Pheonix Rising
by Foxfire251
Summary: After a violent, horrific nightmare, Lara-Su now realizes that her fate in the future that Charlie told her about might seem more realistic than she thought. Meanwhile, Sally has slowly started to make a descent into madness as her psychosis worsens. And also, from the shadows, a new foe emerges, one the likes of which Mobius has never seen...
1. Chapter 1: Back in the Loop

**Pheonix Rising**

**The immediate sequel to Evil Never Dies**

"_Let's hope people like this as much as they did the first one."_

_-Foxfire251_

**Warning: This fic has been given a Mature rating for adult language, violence, sexual themes, nudity, gore, use of firearms, use of alcohol, references to war IRL, Some (And only some) graphic rape scenes, murder, and death.**

**Reader Descretion is Advised.**

**Chapter one: Back in the Loop**

_Lara-Su lay in her bed, lost in peaceful slumber with the blankets draped over her body. Suddenly, she felt an odd sensation on the right side of her face as she lay with her back to the door of her room, almost like someone, or some__thing__, was licking her. She then opened her eyes quickly, looking up to where she felt it._

_There was nothing._

_She reached to her bedside table and put on her glasses, then looked at the time on her alarm clock. Strangely, the clock was completely turned off, almost as if it wasn't even plugged in. She reached for her phone, then tried to check the time on it, but found that it was running incredibly low on battery power as well. Slightly frustrated, she slammed it down on her bedside drawer, making a brief, frustrated growl. Just then, she felt the entire room go cold, and then felt her body become overrun by some strange kind of energy, making her shiver violently (1)._

_And then, suddenly, she felt something start to drag her out of her bed by her ankles, making her slam her head on the floor as she was dragged. Frantically, she tried to hold on to anything she could, but found it to be of no use as the strange, unknown force continued to drag her. "H-Help!" She cried, "Mom, Dad! Please, help!" However, despite how loud she was yelling, no one came. She then felt it drag her right out of the door of her room, and down some strange hall that seemed to fade away as she was dragged. She then looked behind herself to try and see who or what was stealing her away from her parents, but saw nothing there. Before long, she was dragged through a doorway on the right side of the fading hallway, and soon found herself in a very, very dark room. The dragging stopped once she seemed to be in the very center of the room, at which point the door to the room closed behind her, leaving her in complete darkness._

_She sat up, covering her body with her arms, shivering from the strange, intense cold. It was also so dark she couldn't even see her hand in front of her own face._

_Suddenly, a bright light lit up the room, making her flinch from how bright it was. Then, she saw several, faceless men standing over her in a crowd, who then grabbed her by her arms and legs and carried her off while she struggled and kicked to try and free herself from their grasp._

_She was then placed upon what looked like a large, stone alter, and then tied down by her wrists and ankles with some rope. Struggled as she may, she couldn't get free from her bonds no matter what she tried._

_And then, some long, purple tentacles made of some strange, but gooey substance, slithered up her limbs, tightly coiling themselves around them, holding her firmly in place._

_After that happened, she then saw someone walk up beside her, looming over her like a giant shadow._

_He looked human-like, or at least, the top half of him did. Everything below his waist looked like it was made of molten rock that had hardened, but had pencil-thin fissures going on where his joints and muscles were on his legs, pale skin that suggested he had gone his entire life without sunlight, long, floor length blond hair, long, monster-like horns on the front of his head, and huge, hulking bat wings poking out of his back. And his eyes…_

_Black, with red iris' and had a strange, red eyeshadow around them._

_The man-beast looked down upon her, almost like he was gazing into her very soul, then raised his right hand above her body. And then, all of a sudden, he drove it through her chest, making her gasp sharply, then watched as he slowly pulled out her heart, almost just like in Temple of Doom. And as he held her heart in his hand tightly, she watched as it turned into some kind of black crystal that gave off a sinister purple glow. Lara's breathing quickly picked up pace, as she saw the gooey purple tentacles slither up further and then completely cover her arms and legs, encasing them in a strange, warm purple goo._

_And then, just as suddenly, she saw a man walk up to her other side, holding a long, pointy ceremonial dagger._

"_Y-you!" She cried, recognizing the crimson-haired stranger she met at the park a while ago when this all began. The man simply glared, his face stoic and unforgiving. He then held the dagger up, then plunged it into the very middle of her chest, making her scream loudly as he continued to stab her, splashing her own blood all over the place…_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_Echidna Residence_

_August 2__nd__, 3265_

_1:56 AM_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"Lara? Lara!" Knuckles called to her, holding her right hand as she writhed and screamed in her sleep. Lara then jolted awake, hyperventilating whilst in a cold sweat. Lara looked to her father, immediately seeing his worried expression.

"Are you okay?" He asked, "Did you have a bad dream?" . Lara took a few deep breaths, then burst into tears, her sobs echoing throughout the house, burying her face into her father's chest.

"Shhhh, shhh, easy now…" Knuckles told her, rubbing her back in an effort to soothe her, "It's okay. The nightmare's over now." He looked to the doorway and saw Julie-Su standing there, then said, "It's alright. I got it." Julie then said, "Alright, as long as you do." She then yawned, then walked back to bed. Knuckles then redirected his attention to his weeping daughter, then continued to rub her back while he hugged her until her sobbing subsided.

"You want me to make you some tea?" He asked her, "It'll help you sleep better." Lara looked at him, as if considering the offer, then nodded. "Alright," Knuckles responded, "C'mon downstairs." She then put on her glasses and followed her father down the steps, sniffling and hiccuping every so often from her bout of weeping earlier.

When they got to the kitchen, Knuckles flipped on the light switch, then walked over to one of the cupboards, while Lara took a seat at the kitchen table. Knuckles looked through the various blends of tea that he and Julie-Su had accumulatade over the years, but hardly used after Lara-Su was born. But then, he saw the one that his father had given him on the day of his and Julie's wedding as a gift, which bore a label written in Echidna. He pursed his lips for a moment, looking at it. _Aw, hell. Why not?_ He thought. He then took the small balsa wood box out of the cupboard, got out one of the tea bags inside, then brewed up some of the tea his father had given him. He poured some into a mug and placed it in front of Lara, who gingerly grabbed the handle of it. She took one sip, then placed the mug down, stammering incoherently. "Come again?" Knuckles asked. "It's too b-b-bitter!" Lara finally got out. "You want some sugar in it?" Knuckles asked. Lara simply nodded. Knuckles then got out the sugar bowl and dropped two sugar cubes into the mug, stirring it gently with a spoon he got out of the drawer. "That better?" He asked. Lara took another sip, then nodded. "Mind if I have some too?" Knuckles asked. She shook her head. He then poured himself a cup of the tea that Kobar had given him years ago that he had simply forgotten about until just then for some reason. After dropping two sugar cubes into his tea as well, he joined Lara at the table and took a sip of his cup. Lara's fingers trembled as they gingerly held on to the handle of the mug. "You know," Knuckles said, trying to make small talk, "This particular blend of tea is what ancient tribal echidnas made for their children as a means to ward off bad dreams. Your grandfather made it for a me a couple of times back when I was a little younger than you are now. Of course, _his_ was always blended fresh, as he was good with herbs and stuff, which he picked up from your grandmother, Aurora bless her, so it would've tasted a little different than-" Lara suddenly started to whimper and whine. "Sweetie, what's wrong?" Knuckles asked. "My dream!" She cried. "Well, what happened in your dream?" Knuckles asked, "How scary could it have been to frighten you like it did?" Lara then began to tell Knuckles what she saw in her nightmare, right down to the last, frightening detail.

Upon hearing it, Knuckles then gained a worried expression. "You…" He began, gulping hard before continuing, "… You saw… K-Kurros?" Lara hiccuped, then asked, "Who's Kurros?" Knuckles, let go of his mug, then stood up, leaning against the fridge for support.

"Who's Kurros?" Lara asked again, this time slightly more persistant.

"Lara…" Knuckles responded, "Sweetie… Kurros is the Auroran god of Death. The fact that you saw him…"

"… Is that bad?" She asked.

"… It could be." Knuckles answered, "Actually, there is an old Echidna superstition that says that if someone sees Kurros in their dreams…" Knuckles stopped, as if he was too scared to continue.

"Well?" Lara pressed on, "What does it-"

"It means that you're going to die!" He finished, sounding as if it was painful for him to say.

Lara's eyes went wide with shock and horror.

"… Die?" She repeated.

Knuckles nodded. "Well, rather it means you _may_ die, it kind of… I-I mean, I don't really… Y-you don't really believe in such a silly superstition like that, right?"

Knuckles looked more scared than he was trying to let on.

Lara, on the other hand, thought for a moment, then replied, "… No."

Knuckles let out a long sigh of relief, then said, "Look, Lara, do me a huge favor, will you?"

"What's that?"

"Don't tell _anyone_ about any of this, okay?"

Lara nodded.

"Alright then. now, once you're finished with your tea, then I want you to try to go back to sleep, got it?"

"... Okay, dad." Lara replied.

She then finished her tea, then walked back up to her room, then laid on her bed, pulling the covers tight over her body.

However, she found it hard to sleep, as many thoughts were buzzing around her head like a swarm of hornets.

The main thoughts that was going through her head, however, was about what her father told her about her dream, and how it made her believe that what will happen to her in his timeline might actually hold truth.

Was she really going to die at the hands of this great evil that was coming soon?

_No..._ she thought, _I won't let myself get killed like that. Fate won't have it's way with me, that's for sure._

She then drifted off into peaceful slumber, inhabited by more pleasent dreams.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_Rouge's downtown Designer flat_

_223 Knut Street_

_The next day._

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

In recent years, Lien-Da and Rouge had become very good friends, and would often get together and sit at Rouge's dining room table, sipping coffee while they talked about their day-to-day lives and woes.

Today, Lien-Da had decided to talk about her son, Rutan, and his recent change in behavior following him finding out the truth about her past involvement with the Dark Legion.

"So, I take it he's been handling it well." Rouge said sarcastically, taking a sip of her coffee.

"No, no he hasn't!" Lien-Da responded sharply, "He's been completely disrespectful towards me, he's been talking back a lot more than he used to, which was like, _never_, and then there's this 'project' he's been working on lately."

Rouge raised an eyebrow.

"'Project?'"

Lien-Da scoffed. "He's been putting together some kind of costume or something," She explained, "I swear to Aurora, it looks like something straight out of a comic book! Like Batman or something!"

Rouge sipped her coffee again. After she did so, Lien-Da then asked, "So, speaking of, have you told _your_ son about his father yet?"

Rouge shrugged. "I've actually decided to tell him once he turns eighteen or something. He's still a little young."

"Didn't he turn seventeen two days ago?"

Rouge sighed. "Yeah, he did. He had a few of his friends over, and they sort of went out to the arcade or something."

"Ah." Said Lien-Da, "You realize that if you don't tell him he'll eventually find out on his own, right?"

"How? He's practically a ghost nowadays."

"I don't know, Bean'll probably tell him or something. Speaking of which, where is he?"

"Probably in his room, chatting with some guy or girl on that bisexual dating website he discovered recently."

Just then, Melbourne walked right by Rouge and Lien-Da into the kitchen area, wearing a loose white t-shirt that revealed one of his shoulders poking out of the collar, some obscenely tight shorts that barely covered his legs, and a pair of knee-high white stockings with hearts printed on them. He reached into the blue porcelain cookie jar sitting on the counter and got out two chocolate chip cookies.

Rouge was rather stunned to see her son dressing in this manner, as her eyes went wide with shock.

Then, upon closer inspection, Rouge noticed…

"Melbourne, are you wearing _eyeshadow_?!"

Sure enough, Melbourne was wearing a very pale blue eyeshadow around his eyes.

He looked to her, then replied, "Yeah. Why do ya ask, mum?"

Rouge glanced at Lien-Da for a moment, then back at Melbourne, practically speechless.

"Listen, mum," He then said, "You don't mind if I pracitice some dancing in the living room for a bit, do ya?"

Rouge's left eye gave a short, hardly noticable twitch.

"… No, go right ahead."

"Thanks, mum!" Melbourne replied, "lemme get changed first!"

He then ran off to his room, abandoning the other cookie on the counter.

Rouge then held her head in her hands, leaning forward on her chair as she did so.

"You… You saw what he was wearing, right?" Lien-Da asked.

Rouge nodded.

Just then, Melbourne came out of his room, carrying an Ihome, then placed it on the coffee table in the living room.

Of course, Rouge's eyes only widened even more when she saw what her son was wearing now.

He was wearing a navy-blue sleeveless, swimsuit-cut leotard with a large, silver heart printed on the chest, coupled with bright silver tights underneath.

She also noticed what looked like a bra and some panties being worn underneath.

Melbourne then switched on the Ihome, which then started to play 'Never Gonna Give You up' by Rick Astley. And then, he started dancing, shaking his butt and tail every so often.

Rouge watched this, entirely speechless, her left eye twitching every so often. Meanwhile, Lien-Da then started giggling, which then quickly turned into full-on laughter.

"So, you still think he's his father's child, Rouge?" Lien-Da taunted.

"… Shut the fuck up, Lien-Da…" Rouge responded half-heartedly.

Just then, Rouge's video phone rang. _Thank the Lord Chaos…_ Rouge thought. She then walked over to the video phone console, then hollared at Melbourne to turn the music down a bit. She then pressed the 'answer' button, and an image of Bunnie came on the screen.

"Hey, hon," Bunnie greeted, "Ah'm not interruptin' nothin' am Ah?"

Rouge glanced back at her cross-dressing son, sighed, then replied, "No, not at all. Just having another one of my coffee socials with Lien-Da. So, what's up?"

Bunnie sighed a little, then said, "Well… See, the 30th anniversary of mah Ma's death is comin' up, and they're gonna have a big ol' memorial ceremony back in mah home town, Blue Lake, and Ah invited a few of the others to come with, an' Ah was wonderin… Y'know, if yer not busy this next week and a half… If ya'll would like to come with."

Rouge thought for a moment, taking one last glance at Melbourne, then answered, "Sure. I'd love to."

Bunnie gave a smile, then said, "Thanks, sugah. It really means a lot to me."

"So, three quick questions," Rouge then said, "Who else is going, how are we getting there, and when should we start packing?"

"Well, to answer the first question," Bunnie began, "Knuckles and his family are comin', and so is Sally and her kids, as well as that Zephyr guy she's been hangin' out with since Sonic died, Argyle decided to come along alone, with Vector's permission, of course, Vicky and her Uncle Gren are going, that Lancer guy Vicky's dating is going along with her, as expected of course, Cream's comin', David and Clash are comin', Scales' kid Claudius is comin', Twan's comin', annnnd… Oh! And Nicole's comin' too!"

"Nicole's coming?" Rouge asked skeptically, "Isn't she like, a hologram or something?"

"Not anymore, she ain't!" Bunnie happily replied, "Rotor and Zeke gave her an actual body to inhabit, and Ah'm not talkin' 'bout no robot or anything, Ah'm talkin' about a real, live, artificially produced, _mobian body_!"

Rouge went wide-eyed with surprise.

"When did this happen?" She asked in disbelief that something this big got by her so easily.

"About a week and a half ago," Bunnie answered, "Apparently she got tired of being just a hologram an' missin' out on some of the stuff us real mobians get to partake in, y'know, eatin', sleepin', dreamin', emotions, love even! So, they went and grew a home-brewed mobian lynx woman body for her, then used this little contraption to plant her conciousness into it! Ah swear, it's like somethin' outta that Star Trek show I used to watch years ago. Anyways, to answer the second question, We'll be goin' by train, 'cause the ol' Freedom Line that Old King Max commissioned years ago goes out that way. And to the third, well, we'll probably be leavin' the day after tomorrow, and you should probably make sure to set yer alarm clock to about 5:50 as the first train goin' there leaves at about 6:20, and Ah kinda wanted to get there before noon."

"Well, alright then." Said Rouge, "I'll tell Melbourne that we're going."

"Great! Talk to ya later, sugarcube!"

Bunnie then hung up as Rouge followed suit.

"I can't believe Nicole has a body now." Said Rouge. "Well," Lien-Da responded cooly, "I guess this is what it's like to be thrown out of the loop." She then finished the last of her coffee, then got out of her seat and went to the door. "Well, Rouge, this has been a very interesting social of ours," She said, "See you later, I guess." "Okay, bye." Rouge said with a nod. After Lien-Da walked out the front door, shutting it with a slight slam, Rouge then walked over to her couch and collapsed onto it, watching her son finish his dance routine.

"So…" Rouge asked him, "Where'd you get the outfit?"

"Huh?" Melbourne responded, "Oh, _this_? Bean helped pick it out for me. We went shopping a couple weeks ago, and I saw this and thought to meself, 'Yeah. I'd look pretty fab in that' so we bought it, and when I got home, I tried it on, and as you can see, it fits so snug 'round me bum! See?" He then showed off his spandex-covered butt, where his long, purple, bent tail poked out through a tail hole on the back of it.

Seeing her son's tail, she was then suddenly reminded of his biological father.

Nack…

"Sweetie," She said, "I'm gonna go out for a little bit. You don't mind, do you?"

Melbourne shook his head.

"Alright…" Rouge then got up, then picked up her keys and purse, then walked out the front door, being sure to tell Melbourne that Bean was in charge while she was gone (Against her better judgement, of course) before she left, then got in her car, and drove off to this café down the next block from where she lived.

She took a seat at a table in the smoking section, then got a pack of cigarettes out of her purse, then lit one in her mouth, taking in a long puff before exhaling it.

_Goddammit…_ Rouge thought, _Why did he have to fucking leave me back then? He practically left for dead after Berlin happened, then sometime after I was rescued, he met up with me in a goddamn hotel, knocked me up, then left the next morning. And now his own son is… is… A goddamn transvestite or something, and it may or may not be Bean's fault._

"A lot on your mind?"

Rouge jumped and turned to her left to see Lucas come in all of a sudden.

"Why's it your business all of a sudden?" Rouge asked sharply.

Lucas simply sat in the seat in front of her, then placed a manilla envelope on the table in front of her.

"'Cause command has a mission for you," He replied, "And I need to know whether or not you're up to it."

Rouge opened the envelope and saw various dossiers of certain individuals, as well as a map of the Blue Lake county area, and a photo of Mammoth Mogul standing with a man with long, crimson hair.

"His name's Rapheal Richtofen," Lucas explained, "We believe he may be tied to a secret terrorist cell know as the Pheonix Empire. We also believe he may be connected to the dogtag murders that were occuring this past year."

"So, why's he with Mammoth?" Rouge asked, "Didn't he get screwed out of his money?"

"He did." Lucas replied, "But now he's been slowly rebuilding his empire, this time as an international crime lord. His main hitman…"

He then showed her a mugshot of a mobian hare man, about 32 in age, with light brown fur, short black hair, a notch cut out of the side of his left ear, green eyes, and wore a white t-shirt.

"Is Remmy 'Magnum' Hare, the very nephew of the infamous Ebony 'Downtown' Hare."

"Didn't he get the chair a while ago?"

Lucas nodded.

"So now, Magnum here's been sort of inheriting the family business, so to speak. He was arrested only once, and even then they didn't have enough evidence to convict him."

"So, why're you coming to me?" Rouge asked, "Couldn't you get Dann to do it?"

"I would've," Lucas explained, "But then our intel told us you would be going on a little 'trip' to Blue Lake tomorrow."

Rouge went wide-eyed with shock.

"How did you-"

She then glared.

"Have you been spying on me?"

Lucas simply looked at her through his sunglasses, then said, "That's classified."

"Even for me?"

"I assure you, Rouge…" Lucas pushed the bridge of his glasses further up his nose, "We have our sources, and they are _very_ reliable."

"So, let me get this straight," Rouge said, recapping, "You want me to completely blow off my friends while on a trip to a memorial of a good friend's mother's death, to go on a goddamn ghost hunt?"

"Yes." Lucas replied, "And, just so it's clear, it's not a 'ghost hunt…'"

He then lowered his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose.

"… It's an assassination."

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Rouge got home much later in the day, almost around dinnertime, as she spent half of the day after she met with Lucas at Bunnie's bar, having a drink whilst thinking about whether or not going on this mission was a good idea.

When she got home, however, she was treated to Melbourne laying on his stomach on the couch wearing that same shirt from earlier, except without the shorts, allowing her to confirm that he was wearing a pair of pale blue silk panties. While he lay there, he was looking dreamily at a magazine featuring a centerfold of a mobian ferret man, wearing nothing but a pair of tight jeans, bearing a set of twelve-pack abs.

"Melbourne?"

Melbourne jumped slightly upon Rouge calling him.

"Oy, mum!" He said, "You startled me, you did!"

"… Are you wearing panties?" Rouge asked, her arms folded.

Melbourne looked back at his butt, upon which his blue silk panty was tightly clamped to, then sat up, and nodded, almost as if ashamed.

"… _Why,_ in Aurora's green Mobius, are you wearing underwear meant for girls?"

Melbourne fidgeted nervously, looking back at her mother shyly.

He then took a deep breath, then replied, "… I'm… I'm gay."

Rouge unfolded her arms as she looked at her son with a new light.

"And," He added, "I like dressing up like a girl, not 'cause of that… Well, actually partially because of that, but also 'cause… 'Cause it feels right to me."

Melbourne clutched his wings tightly to his sides.

"Sometimes I feel as though I'm really a sheila trapped in a man's body, and that the only way I can feel normal is to wear stuff like this. Of course, I've only worn them at home so far, haven't told me friends yet, but…"

Rouge sat down next to him, putting one of her wings around his shoulder.

"Sweetie," She said sweetly, "You don't have to be ashamed of who you are. Just be yourself, nothing else. It won't make me love you any less for it, in fact, I love you just the way you are."

Melbourne looked at Rouge, his eyes sparkling with joy.

"… Really?"

"Yes, really."

The two then hugged each other in a warm embrace.

Then, killing the mood immediately, Rouge heard Bean ask, "Hey, Rouge, do you know where your makup box is?"

Rouge growled under her breath, then turned to face Bean with an irritated glare.

"Why do-" She began, but then face palmed when she saw what Bean was wearing.

He was wearing a short, violet dress with a ribbon tied on the chest area of it, coupled with realistic-looking fake boobs underneath it, metallic teal tights coupled with a pair of shoulder-length opera gloves of the same color and material, and a pair of blue high-heels.

"In case you're wondering…" Bean said, "I have a date tonight!"

"Oh my fuckin god…" Rouge mumbled.

"Of course, I'll look even more glamorous once I have my wig on, so I need to know where your makeup box is so I can find the right shade of lipstick and eyeshadow for-"

"Vanity…" Rouge growled, "Left side…"

"Thanks!"

Bean then went into Rouge's room, then applied a bright teal shade of lipstick to the lips of his beak, then some bright purple eyeshadow around his eyes, coupled with some feathered fake eyelashes, then put on a bright green girl wig, then walked back into the living room, then asked, "So? How do I look?"

"… Like a goddamned transgendered hooker." Rouge replied sarcastically.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Oh! That must be my gal of the night!" Bean exclaimed. He then rushed over to the door and opened it, greeting his date for the night.

"Espiona!" He said, "How ya doin' tonight, my lovely lady?"

Espiona giggled, then replied, "Fine, thanks. It's good to finally talk to you in person."

"Lovin' the playboy bunny costume, by the way." Said Bean, "Makes you look fine."

Sure enough, Espiona was in fact wearing a tuxedo bunny costume, complete with a black leotard that had a bunny tail attached to the back, a bowtie collar around her neck, white wristcuffs, a bunny ear headband, black high heels, and bright pink tights worn underneath.

Rouge shrugged irritably.

"Well, we're gonna head out," Bean told Rouge, "There's this club Espiona told me about, and we're gonna hit it up."

"Okay…" Said Rouge, "You 'girls' have fun…"

The two 'ladies' then walked out the door, shutting it behind them.

Rouge then sighed irritably, then walked over into the kitchen area and got a bottle of scotch out of the fridge, then opened it and took a long sip from it.

"You alright, mum?" Melbourne asked.

"I'm fine, sweetie." She said, "I just need a moment alone. Would you mind going to your room and play video games or something?"

Melbourne nodded. "I take it this is one of those days, isn't it?" He asked.

Rouge nodded, smiling stupidly.

"Yep, it's starting to look that way." She replied.

Melbourne then walked into his room and shut the door.

Meanwhile, Rouge sat on the couch, holding the bottle of scotch by it's neck, then staring stupidly at the wall.

Suddenly, she heard movement over near the back door.

Cautiously, she put down the bottle, then walked reached inside a drawer on the table beside the couch and got out a HKP2000 handgun, checking the magazine before pulling on the slide to chamber a round. Then, she cautiously walked to the lounge near the back screen door, holding her gun out in front like she was on a mission. She then carefully opened the door to the lounge…

Only to have Nack point an MP443 Grach handgun in her face respectively.

Immediately, Rouge lowered her guard.

"… Nack?" She said.

He looked much different then he did when they first started dating.

He now bore a long scar down his left eye, which looked as though it had been replaced with a biological implant, as it was a completely different color than his right, and he now his hair was longer, and fell to his shoulders. As always, though, he wore his signiture fedora and belt, but also wore a brown trenchcoat overtop.

The two looked at one another for a moment. And then, Nack threw himself upon Rouge, locking lips with her in a long kiss. She enjoyed it at first, but then pushed him off and slapped hima cross his face, knocking him into the wall beside them.

"The bloody hell was that for?!" He barked. Rouge simply glared at him with venom in her eyes and bellowed, "Where the fuck have you been?! I've waited years for you to come back, and you never once did! And on top of that, the only times I even ever get to talk to you is on the phone or through a goddamn text message, and even then we have to use our goddamn alias' which tend to change with the coming wind. Meanwhile, I'm raising _your_ son, whom the only 'man' in his life is Bean, and even then that's not saying much, especially after he came out of the closet with his bisexuality, and has been all up in everyone's face about it, especially mine, and now all that shit with Robotnik happened, plus of course everything that's happened ever since, not to mention that shit you pulled back in Berlin, and shortly after that whole situation, leaving me pregnant with your child, and-"

Nack then locked lips with her in another kiss, but was stopped short by her punching him in the face.

"**STOP IT**!" She yelled, "It's far too late for that!"

Nack spat some blood out of his mouth, then replied, "Well, excuse me for wantin' to help ya."

"Help me?" Rouge spat, "You broke into my house! How is-"

"Oy, mum, what's goin' on?" Melbourne asked, peering out of his bedroom door.

"Nothing, sweetie, just go back to-"

"So this is him, then?" Nack asked.

Rouge looked back at Nack, then snarled, "Why do you suddenly care?"

"He's my son, ain't he?" Nack asked sharply.

Melbourne's ears perked up upon hearing Nack say that.

"… 'Son?'"

He then walked out of his room, still wearing no pants, and still wearing his pale blue silk panties.

Seeing this, Nack looked slightly offended.

"… The fuck is this?" He asked, then raising his voice, "Are you wearing girl's underwear?!"

"Mum, who the hell is this?!" Melbourne demanded.

"Melbourne," Rouge began to explain, "This is your father. Your _real_ father."

"He's no son of mine if he's dressed like that!" Nack yelled.

Hearing this, Melbourne's eyes became flooded with tears, and then ran into his room, locking the door behind him. The sounds of his sobs echoed loudly from behind the door.

Rouge then turned and glared at Nack.

"Seriously?!" She barked, "He finds out you're his father and the first thing you say to him is that he's no son of yours for dressing that way?!"

"Look, sheila, I-"

"No! no more excuses! Why are you here?!"

"It's my understanding you're going to be going on a mission starting tomorrow over in Blue Lake."

Rouge looked at him suspiciously, still seething with rage.

"How do you know that?" She said with a low growl.

"I've been watching you today." Nack replied, "You had a little chat with Agent Wasp, am I right?"

Rouge didn't answer. Instead, she walked away into the living room, then leaned against the doorway to her room.

"Listen, Sheila," Nack began, "I know I'm not the particular person you want to see right now, but I came here to warn you." He took her hand in his, then continued.

"The people you're about to go against are far more devious than anyone you've gone against prior. They have men inside G.U.N. itself, as well as inside the Acorn Royal Guard. Also, you've actually been under survaillence by G.U.N. for quite some time. I only just deactivated all the camaras, bugs and wiretaps in the house, and even then, I don't have a lot of time before they turn back on. That aside, My point is this.

"There is a huge plot going on to destabilize the world governments, and the people behind it have people in G.U.N. that want to see you gone."

Rouge's eyes went wide with shock.

"… Wh-why?" She asked.

"Because yer damaged goods." Nack answered flatly, "Ever since Berlin. They feel that because of what those bastards did to you in Berlin, that you might be a possible 'security risk' that they just can't allow to continue breathing. So, that being what it is, they're going to eliminate you, make sure that you're not a 'risk' anymore."

"… Couldn't they just burn me?" Rouge asked.

Nack simply shook his head.

"That would be too easy. They'll need to make sure that they can't activate you."

Rouge raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"… 'Activate?'"

"You honestly haven't figured it out by now, sheila?" Nack asked.

Rouge looked at him stupidly and shook her head.

"Allow me to spell it out for you then…" Said Nack, "… You've been brainwashed."

Rouge looked at him, wondering if it was true or not.

"'Brainwashed?'" She asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Have you been hearing the numbers lately?" Nack asked.

Rouge went wide-eyed with terror. While she hadn't heard them since Operation: Dallas, she had heard some of them from time to time while she was at home, and even in her sleep.

"The numbers," Nack explained, "Happen to be a part of a broadcast being transmitted by satellites, both on the ground and in space. They used an old trick the Soviets used to use during the Cold War. By doing so, they turned you into a living weapon. A sleeper agent. They programmed you to follow whatever orders they gave you, including a specific order that will only be given once the time for it comes. One of these orders happened to be to kill the President of the UNT if shit hit the fan, which it did.

"However, given the fact that the one that originally planted that order into you is no longer in charge, that other order… The one… When that order is given… They'll use you… That's why G.U.N. is going to set you up to be killed. Because you're a risk. Both to yourself, and those around you."

Rouge looked at him, taking this all in all at once. She then grabbed him by the shoulders, then said, "There's gotta be something you can do! I-I don't…" Nack simply shook his head, then said, "I'm afraid there's nothing I can do, sheila." "You've gotta!" Rouge screamed, "Please! I… I don't want to hurt anyone…" "I'm afraid that's not a choice you can make right now." Nack then removed her hands from his shoulders, but held them for a moment. And then, the two then locked lips in a long, passionate kiss. Once it was over, Rouge then said, "Please don't go…"

Nack looked at her, then sighed sadly.

"I'm afraid I can't stay this time." He said.

Tears filled Rouge's eyes.

"Please…" She begged, "Don't leave me…"

Nack let go of her, then turned around and walked towards the screen door. As he opened it, he turned to her one last time, then gave a weak smile, and said, "I love you… Always…" He then walked out and into the shadows of the night.

Rouge leaned against the wall, watching as the man she loved the most walked out of her life once again. She then stumbled into her bedroom, then collapsed onto her queen-sized heart-shaped bed, then sobbed as she lay on her back.

And as she sobbed, she heard the faint whisper of the numbers, echoing through her mind like a soft murmur.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_Nack's Hideout_

_Downtown Mobotropolis_

_Sometime later…_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Nack sat on a beat up couch in the area of the small warehouse he called home that could be classified as a living room, a bottle of whiskey in his left hand, watching an old video of his and Rouge's honeymoon in Sydney.

She looked so happy back then.

He remembered that steamy evening on the beach, laying there on top of each other, kissing and making love.

He skipped ahead, and then came upon a part where they were scuba diving in the great barrier reef, and he had commented how 'sexy' she looked in a wetsuit.

He skipped further ahead, and he was at the part where they were sitting at park bench that bore a magnificent view of the Sydney Opera House.

He listened to himself make the same promise to her, over and over again as he kept rewinding to hear that one line.

"I promise I'll never leave you."

Finally, stood up and threw the half-empty bottle of whiskey at the tv, followed by another empty alcohol bottle, and another, and so on, all the while shouting, "**FUCK YOU**! **FUCK YOU**! **FUCK YOU**!" over and over again until he ran out of things to throw. When that happened, he sunk to his knees and wept.

Bark, hearing him from his room, ran to his side immediately, and rubbed his back, soothing him.

Nack sniffled, then looked at his mute partner and smiled weakly.

"Thanks mate…" He said, "It's good to know you're still here for me…"

"If you're quite done with your blubbering…"

Nack turned sharply in the direction of the speaker, his eyes going wide with shock and fear.

Shadow looked at him, his face stoic and unforgiving.

"I require a favor from you, Nack." He finished.

Nack eyed him suspiciously.

"What sort of favor?"

"I need you to help me confirm something," Shadow explained, "And to do that, we need to pay a visit to Mammoth Mogul."

"What's in it for me?" Nack asked.

"I assure you, Nack..." He replied, "I can make it _very_ worth your while."

He then pulled out a sealed manilla envelope.

"What the bloody hell is this?" Nack asked.

"Evidence." Shadow replied, "Evidence that can be used to prove your innocence from the incident back in Berlin. But, I will only give it to you if you help me with this."

Nack thought for a moment, thinking it over.

He glanced at Bark for a moment, who had a stoic expression on his face, then back at Shadow, then asked,

"What exactly do you need from me?"

"Only your cooperation. Nothing more."

Nack touched a finger to his chin, then smirked and said,

"Well, then... When do we begin?"

_To be continued…_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_(1) This part, or rather, these first two paragraphs, are based on two actual nightmares I had In real life._

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\


	2. Chapter 2: Cracked Acorn

**Pheonix Rising**

**The ratings and disclaimers from the previous chapter also apply to this chapter and all subsequent chapters.**

**Reader Descretion is Advised.**

**Chapter 2: Cracked Acorn**

_Acorn Castle_

_Mobotropolis, United Acorn Kingdom_

_The next day…_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_Sally's POV_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Another morning.

Another reason to not want to sleep ever again.

This time, my nightmares had brought me way back into my early childhood, back during Robotnik's initial coup de'atat.

That day, I had not only witnessed my parents being roboticized, but also watched several people die right in front of me.

My nightmare last night targeted three specifically.

One was a human G.U.N. Marine Seargent who had been a personal friend of Clash's during the war by the name of Matt Ledner.

He was killed after being gunned down by a squad of Swatbots while helping me escape.

Another was a member of the Royal Guard; Lt. Rowen Loft.

He died after jumping in front of me to take several rounds from an enemy machine gun that were originally meant for me.

And finally was just a regular citizen who happened to be a janitor at the castle; Hal Thorn.

He took a sniper round to the chest while escorting me through the streets during our escape.

My nightmare forced me to watch these people die over and over again, all the while roboticizing me painfully and making me hurt my friends against my will.

As well as Manik and Sonia…

So now, here I sit on the side of my bed, still in my nightgown, having already puked my entire dinner last night into my bathroom toilet, looking down at my still-trembling hands, clutching at the skirt of my nightgown.

I feel as though my very sanity is being destroyed by these nightmares.

In fact, it isn't just the nightmares anymore.

The sheer memories of not only that day in my childhood where my life was turned upside down, but also my brief bout of roboticization twenty five years ago, and not to mention watching Sonic die last month.

I…

I feel like I'm cracking up.

Like an acorn of my very namesake being slowly munched on by a squirrell.

And not only that, but whenever I'm around my friends or family, I keep getting these 'urges'

For instance, yesterday, I was with Tails, having coffee while he told me of how Dr. Balto grew him a new tail and how the attachment surgery went, when suddenly, something kept telling me to 'fuck him.' At first, I ignored it, but then it got louder and more vulgar, telling me to do things like, 'plunge my cunt on his cock' or 'make him fuck me until I was stupid' and other foul things like that. I kept trying to ignore it, but it seemed as though the more I did, the more louder and inappropriate it became. And not only that, but as it went on, I started getting more and more inexplicably aroused.

And then finally, I snapped.

Out of the blue, I just started yelling 'Fuck me' over and over again at Tails, and suddenly found myself throwing myself on him, locking my mouth with his in a forced kiss. He kept telling me to stop, but I kept going, tearing off his pants and then tearing off my dress and underwear, thrusting myself on his penis, all the while pinning him down with my hands, a crazed look overtaking my face.

But then, just like that, I snapped back to reality and saw Tails looking up at me, a horrified expression on his face. I got off of him, then ran to my room as fast as I could.

He stayed well away from me after that.

What's worse is I could understand why he would.

I mean, his own dear 'Auntie Sally', the girl who took care of him when he was a child, just tore off his pants and tried to molest him like a rabid hyena.

Much later in the day, I was in the kitchen, cutting some apples for Manik, or at least, I was about to until I got out the fruit knife, at which point I started having another sort of 'urge.' This time, however, the voice was telling me to 'Kill' Manik in any way I could, whether it was to 'Stab him with the knife until my fur was dyed red from his blood' or 'strangle him until his face turns violet' or even 'Bash his head in with a rolling pin.'

This time, however, my resistance to the urges was more open, as I was literally screaming for it to stop.

I was lucky that Manik went and got Tails when he did, otherwise I might have stabbed myself in the face with the knife just to make the voices stop.

It seemed to me that no matter where I went or who I was with, these urges never seemed to go away, and would get even worse as it went along, whether it was telling me to 'eat out' Sonia while she was still in her ballet leotard after Zephyr and I picked her up from ballet class, or even to 'claw out' Rotor's eyes while tearing off his glasses while he was telling me about how he wanted to go back and fix the de-roboticizer machine he created a long time ago.

And now, as I sit here in my pajamas, I started to realized that I can't go on like this.

I need help.

I eventually found the strength to get up, shower and get dressed.

After I was dressed, I looked at my reflecting in my vanity mirror.

My hair was all messy and full of tangles, knots and split ends, and my eyes were all bloodshot and had dark circles around them, with bags underneath them.

This was not how royalty should look.

I applied some violet eyeshadow around my eyes, putting on enough to hide the dark circles and draw attention away from my bloodshot eyes, then brushed my hair profusely, ripping out knots of hair while doing so. Finally, I put some lavender lipstick on my lips, just so I could justify putting on as much eyeshadow as I had.

I then took a deep breath, then walked out of my room and down the stairs to the dining room, where breakfast awaited me.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_Maple's Pub_

_Central Mobotropolis_

_Much later…_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_Sally's POV_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

It was admittedly strange to see Bunnie with a non-roboticized left arm, let alone Nicole as a real Mobian being.

But, like all changes as big as that, it just took some getting used to.

I mean, here Bunnie is, having an arm-wrestling match with Clash on more, as Clash put it 'Equal terms,' while Nicole watches, sipping a glass of cranberry juice.

She even said she ate a bunch of muffins for breakfast this morning, because she wanted to find out what her favorite kind of muffin would be, and as it turns out, not only are chocolate and cinnamon chip muffins her favorite, but she hates raisin muffins, and is apparently allergic to blueberries.

So now, she's waiting on the nachos she ordered to be ready, because she thought they looked good, plus she was still new to the whole 'food' thing and wanted to try as many kinds of food as she could.

And, she also started having 'dreams' last week, which frightened her at first, as she thought that the stuff that happened in her dream actually happened, which in this case was her sprouting wings and flying through Mobotropolis until she met up with me. Apparently I was dressed up like some kind of superhero as I was wearing some kind of spandex jumpsuit, along with a black eye mask.

We ended up fighting some bad guys until we were told by 'Commissioner Clash' told us that some kind of giant slime monster was attacking the city.

So again, we jumped straight into action, until we got caught by the monster's slimy grasps.

She woke up before we could escape, and I remember getting a call from her at 4:00 in the morning, asking me if I was free from the slime monster's clutches.

I'll admit, she's pretty high maintenance for someone who was born literally a week and a half ago, but looks like she's only sixteen.

I still have no idea why Zeke and Rotor made her a body that age, anyway.

"Hey, Sally."

I turned my attention to Nicole, whom I was sitting at a table across from her barstool.

"What?" I asked.

"I have a question for you." She replied.

"What is it?"

"Well," She began, "I was in the bathroom peeing, which I still find to be a tingly sensation, when I saw something written on the wall of the stall that I didn't quite understand."

Oh my God.

I knew a few directions in which this conversation could possibly go.

"What couldn't you understand?" I asked, expecting the worst.

"Certain words, mostly." She explained, "For example, the word 'hoe' was used to describe Amy, when referring to her relationship to Sonic, and the same word was used to describe you in the same way, so my question is, why would someone describe you and Amy as gardening tools?"

So that's how this conversation was going to go, isn't it?

So, I then began to explain 'Slang' to Nicole, and how some forms of it are 'inappropriate' in some social situations, and went on to explain 'swear words' to her as well, being sure to rattle off every swear word I knew, even the derogitory and racial ones.

All the while, at least several bystanders were looking at me like I was crazy.

Honestly, though, they may actually be right about that assumption.

"Oh, I get it now…" Said Nicole, who instantly went from cheery to downright angry and offended. "How dare they say those things about you and Amy! I think we should go find them and get them to apologize right now!" Bunnie and Clash both chuckled, having finished re-igniting their old rivalry with a friendly arm-wrestling match. "Guys, why are you laughing? This is serious!" She exclaimed. "'Cause you don't need to worry about that non, sug." Bunnie exclaimed, "That sorta thing's common in public restrooms. Most of the stuff they write are just outright silly. Why, 'Ah once found the entire prayer line from Pulp Fiction written on on of the stalls in the men's room here." "What's 'Pulp fiction?'" Nicole asked. "Only by far the best Quentin Taranteno movie of all time!" Clash replied with a smirk, "I first saw that shit when I was seventeen, and I _still_ love it even today!"

He then pointed his finger at Bunnie playfully, pertending it was a gun, then said, "'Say what again, _say what again_! I dare you, I double dare you motherfucker, say what one more goddamn time!'"

Bunnie raised an eyebrow at him.

"You realize you wont' be able to talk like that around me again in a few monthes. Ah'm gonna be a mother, y'know?"

"Oh yeah, I keep forgetting about that…" Clash then grabbed his beer, then said, "Betchya wish you could have one of _these_ right now, don't ya, Buns?"

"Not really, no." She replied, "Ah don't usually drink with mah customers."

Just then, the waitress working at the bar brought Nicole's nachos to her, setting them down in front of her.

"Thank you." She said. She then picked up a chip that was practically smothered with cheese and salsa and took a bite out of it. She winced immediately after doing so.

"Guys, my mouth is on fire!" She cried.

"Is it too spicy for ya?" Bunnie asked.

"What's 'spicy?'"

"… Just have a drink. It'll help."

Nicole then took a long gulp from her glass of cranberry juice, then immediately sighed with relief.

"Never a dull moment with you anymore, Nikki," the aged human ex-soldier said with a chuckle, "You're just so innocent it's funny."

"Clash, my name's 'Nicole,'" Nicole responded, sounding irritated, "Why did you call me 'Nikki?'"

"'Cause I was giving you a nickname." He said, "You know? A shorter name."

Nicole took this in for a moment, then sighed and said, "I still have so much to learn about being a real person in the world…"

She had a good point.

There was still so much Nicole didn't know about the world right now.

And we had to be the ones to teach her.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_Acorn Castle_

_Much later…_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_Sally's POV_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

I hadn't slept properly in almost a month.

And now it was finally taking it's toll on my body.

I was fine earlier, granted, but now, all of a sudden, I felt so strange, like the world was moving faster than I was.

I stumbled through the halls, holding onto the walls for support every now and again.

My body needed sleep, but I didn't want to have another nightmare.

I held onto the wall somewhere in the castle for support, had no idea where.

My body was in a cold sweat, and I had trouble staying completely upright on my feet.

Suddenly, I heard a voice call out to me.

"_Salllll-lllllyyy…."_

My eyes went wide with terror as my heartbeat picked up speed.

"_Sallllyy…"_

I slowly turned to face the voice and immediately wished I hadn't.

The speaker looked exactly like me, except she looked like she had been sewn back together like some kind of sick ragdoll. Her fur was all matted and messy, as was her hair, and her eyes were black with red iris', and were bleeding profusely, as were her patchwork stitches.

The other me grinned a wide, toothy grin that seemed to take up almost her entire face.

She slowly trudged towards me, dripping blood all over the marble floors in the hall.

I backed away, not wanting this 'thing' to touch me. However, just as I tried, it grabbed me and pinned me down against the wall.

"No, please!" I cried, but the monster simply ignore me. "Does this seem familiar to you, Sally?" The creature asked, it's voice sounding like a demonic version of my own. The creature then started to in-zip my vest and yank my sweatpants down my legs. "N-No!" I screamed as she started to rub the crotch of my underwear, "Don't touch me there!" I then felt it tear open my white tanktop and grab my breasts, squeezing them with the strength of a swatbot. "**NO**! **STOP IT**!" I screamed, louder this time. The monster then threw me to the floor, then jumped on top of me, holding me down with long tentacles that came from under her stitches. It then tore my underwear off of my legs, then pressed it's body down hard against mine, practically crushing me.

"**HELP**!" I screamed, "**SOMEONE, PLEASE**!"

I was soon silenced by some kind of sticky silk material being smeared over my mouth and muzzle, sealing it shut. I glanced all around and watched as the walls and floors of the room faded away, revealing a huge, blank black space, with me pinned down on a huge spider web. Then, then patchwork other me sprouted eight spider legs and a large spider abdomen from under her stitches, then sprouted four extra spider-like eyes across her face.

I was horrified now. I tried to struggle to get away, but the monster then started spitting a long string of silk from a proboscus that slid out of it's mouth, using it to wrap me from the hips up, binding my arms to my chest, and then wrapping over my head and face, save only my eyes.

Next, it spread my legs out wide, then spat huge gobs of silk to my feet, holding my legs firmly out wide. I tried to scream for help, but my cries were continuously muffled by the strong silk holding it shut. The creature then bent it's head down over my crotch, then pressed it's lips over my vagina, and slid it's proboscus into it, giving a strange, chilling tickling sensation. It felt almost as though the long proboscus was probing my entire body rather than raping me, as I felt the tip of it touch many parts of my innards. I then felt it come out of my throat and into my mouth, tickling the inside of my cheeks. Then, it pulled back down my throat then touched the inside of my nose, poking out of my left nostril. I watched horrifically as the long proboscus came out of my nose and touch my silk-coated face, then slither dangerously close to my eyes.

I froze, my blood running cold as the disgusting appendage hovered over my eyes, tears streaming from my eyes. I then felt it gently touch the surface of my eyes, making them water and blink in an effort to keep them from being damaged. The proboscus then pulled back into my body, swimming around my innards until I felt it spray something thick and gooey into it, making my belly inflate until it burst out of my silk bonds, until the rest of my torso started to inflate as well, filling up with a strange, gooey liquid. Eventually, my body became too big and heavy for my legs to support, and I fell flat on my rear. My cheeks puffed out as the goo leaked up my throat and into my mouth. Finally, it stopped, but only after my body had become massive and swollen, almost like a huge, fur-covered ball. The proboscus then finally pulled out, slipping back into the monster's mouth where it came from.

"Now then…" It hissed, "Now I will make you pretty…" It then saw it sprout a long, sharp stinger from it's right hand, then watched horrifically as it punctured it through my belly, making me literally pop like a balloon.

My vision became slightly blurry after that, but then felt something start to sew me back together, almost like I was a doll that had been mauled by a dog being repaired. Before long, I had my sight back, and was standing up once more. However, I felt slightly different than before. The creature then held a full-length mirror in front of me, smiling it's immobian-looking gring, then said, "Look how beautiful I made you…"

My body now bore cloth patches sewn onto various parts of it, and other parts, namely my limbs, looked like they had been sewn right back on, as there were stitches all over me. And my left eye now had a huge, purple button sewn over it like in that Coraline movie I watched when I was younger. Also, I saw that nearly all of my teeth were missing, and that only a few remained planted into my gums, which too bore stitches on them.

"Now all you need is some clothes…" the creature said. I then felt myself being picked up with these long tentacles, my body falling limp like a real ragdoll. They then slipped me into a pink, frilly princess gown, coupled with a purple corset, long, elbow-length pink opera gloves, white, frilly pettycoats underneath my ball-length skirt, lavender-colored tights, and a pair of pink high heels. The tentacles then placed me back on my feet again, right in front of the mirror.

I still looked like a living ragdoll, but now looked like someone was dressing me up like I really _was_ a doll.

I then watched helplessly as my mouth suddenly stitched itself shut, then as my regal-looking clothes quickly started to rot and disintergrate, revealing my naked, patchwork body.

The creature then grabbed me again and wrapped me in silk, this time covering my entire body save only my eyes and my nose.

Next, it dangled me over a large pit filled with blood and corpses by a single, long thread of silk.

Then, it started to lower me into the pit, going faster with each minute. I started sobbing as I was lowered into the pit of blood. I was lowered until everything below my mouth was submerged.

I watched as a nearby corpse floated right in front of me, then suddenly sprang to life and pulled me under. I watched as it dragged me underneath the surface of the pool of blood, taking me down towards a large, gaping mouth, filled with rows of sharp teeth, with a large, black void right where the throat would be. As it pulled me, the silk strands came off of me, and my left eye returning to where it was, and then…

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_Reality…_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_Sally's POV_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"Sally!" Zephyr yelled one more time, snapping me back to reality.

I gasped for breath as if I'd been almost strangled.

I looked around, taking in my _real_ surroundings.

I was sitting on the floor of my bathroom, half-naked and covered in sweat, vomit and piss from me wetting myself. My pants and underwear were strewn on the floor in front of me, as if I had slipped out of them, my boots were still on my feet, and my vest and shirt were covered in my own vomit. I also had a little bit of foam lingering around my mouth, as if I had had a brisk bout of rabies.

"Sally…" Zephyr asked, his hand holding my shoulder, "Are you okay?"

I looked into the eyes of my blue-furred fox guardian, seeing a kindness I'd only seen once before in that of Sonic's.

I then burst into loud sobbing, buring my face in his chest, dirtying his uniform.

He then hugged me in a warm, kind embrace, rubbing my back in an effort to soothe me.

"It's okay, Sal. It's okay…" I heard him whisper, "Whatever you saw, it can't hurt you anymore."

"I just keep seeing this goddamned face…" I whimpered, "This monster version of me… she keeps haunting me with her black and red eyes and… And it keeps…"

Zephyr then held my face in his hands, making me look at him.

"Look at me, Sal," He said, "Look in my eyes. I won't let anyone or any_thing_ hurt you. You got that? I will make it my personal goal in life to keep you safe. If anyone tries to get you, I will literally drop everything and save you. Do you understand me?"

He…

He was just like Sonic in some ways…

He cared about me enough to want to go so far to keep me safe.

I then took my hands in his, looking into his beautiful brown eyes.

It was almost like I was falling in love with Sonic all over again.

Who knows?

Maybe…

Just maybe…

Maybe I wouldn't even mind having a Royal Guard Seargent as a new husband.

I probably shouldn't rush things, though.

I'd have to see how this relationship went, first.

Regardless, though, we both sat there in my bathroom, holding each other for what seemed like hours. Then, I got back up, washed up and got dressed again. After that, Zephyr personally escorted me downstairs to dinner.

It felt good to have found love again.

Later that night, he stayed with me in my room until I finally fell asleep.

And that night, I slept better than I had in years.

I even had a more pleasant dream…

_To be continued…_


	3. Chapter 3: Naive

_Author's notes: alright, something I kinda wanted to say, um, from now on, Bunnie will be written as being in her late forties rather than being directly fifty. I know it says otherwise in her first appearance in Evil Never Dies, but for the sake of things, just pertend that she is._

_Also, I'd like to say that I'm going to completely discount A Broken Lullaby as canon, as I probably won't get back to it anytime soon, so basically, this has a different continuity than that one would've. Also because of something that will happen in this chapter._

_Okay, got that out of the way, enjoy the chapter._

**Pheonix Rising**

**The ratings and disclaimers from the previous chapter also apply to this chapter and all subsequent chapters.**

**Reader descretion is advised.**

**Chapter Three: Naive**

_The next day…_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_Nicole's POV_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

This entire world is so fascinating.

I mean, granted I already knew all about it when I was still just a computer AI, but now that I'm Mobian it's all the more amazing and new to me.

And now, here I was, sitting in a compartment on a train headed to Bunnie's hometown, using the high-end laptop that Zeke gave me to look up things in order to learn about the world around me. A certain word that Clash used earlier comes to mind about this, and it was called 'Irony' the reason for this is when he saw me using my laptop, I overheard him saying, 'How ironic. A computer _using_ a computer!'

Right now, I was looking up one of Sally's ancestors 'King Zachary Acorn' and was really fascinated at what I was finding out.

For instance, I learned that he gained the nickname 'Zachary the Bold' when he and his troops took down an entire platoon of Overlandic soldiers armed with trench weapons, such as the MG08 machine gun and the STG-44 automatic rifle. He only got shot once, and even then, he kept fighting. That victory alone gave King Zachary a 'Brash' reputation, but at the same time, made the mobian people love him even more.

I also learned that he gained Sainthood when he killed a giant dragon summoned by his former advisor, who happened to be a evil sorcerer, after he staged a failed coup'de'atat. He and his wife, Queen Sallebeth Acorn, gave birth to three children, his daughter, Elliana, and his two sons, Lelouch and Archer, the latter of whom was King Maximillan's father.

Another thing I looked up prior to this was 'Mobian Mythology' And there was one thing in particular in that subject that piqued my fancy quite a bit.

Mermobians.

They're these creatures that have the upper body of a mobian of any species, but have a long fish tail instead of legs. In addition, their fish tails can bear features of actual species of fish, such as the scale colorations of a clown fish, or the colorations and poison points of a lionfish. Not only that, but they also have beautiful singing voices, and are often very beautiful in looks, too.

Just the thought of even being one fascinated me.

Free of being bond to the ground…

Swimming freely through the limitless ocean…

Floating weightlessly underwater…

Well, getting off of that subject, in the compartment with me was David, who had just pulled out his Nintega 3DS and had started to play a game on it. Deciding to take advice Rotor gave me before I left and engage in 'social interaction', I flipped my laptop closed and scooted closer to him to see what he was playing.

There was a small, child-sized cartoon Chao boy on the screen, walking through a cartoonish forest, stopping only once to talk to a cartoonish kangaroo girl, who gave him some kind of leaf-shaped object. The chao-boy avatar then walked over to a river and pulled a fishing rod out of seemingly nowhere and cast the line out into the river.

"So," I asked, making David jump a little, "What're you playing?"

David was quiet for a moment as he looked at me, seemingly unfazed.

"… 'Chao Crossing.'" He replied.

"Is it fun?" I asked.

"… It's not entirely exciting, if that's what you're asking." He responded.

"How do you play?"

"… There's really no skill to it. All I'm really doing is catching some fish to sell for money so that I can get the next house expansion. There's not much more to it than that. Literally anyone could play this. A two-year-old could play this."

I watched as his Chao avatar caught a large fish out of the river, playing a funny tune when he caught it.

However, after watching over David's shoulder, he eventually asked, "Do you mind not looking over my shoulder? I hate that."

"Oh…" I said, less enthusiastic than earlier, "Sorry…" I then scooted back to where I was sitting.

A silence soon passed.

I was never too fond of long silences.

I then decided to break the ice.

"So…" I began, "Have you heard of the 'Fossilitis Plague of 3012?'"

David gazed at me for a moment.

He then sighed and said, "I don't like where this is headed…"

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_Meanwhile…_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_Tails' POV_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

I _did not_ want to be here right now.

I mean, don't get me wrong, Bunnie's always been like a second mother to me, so I'd easily go in a heartbeat. It's just that the compartment me and Mina were given was the same one Sally and Zephyr were in.

Zephyr I'm easily okay with, I mean, we've been friends since we met in Knothole Village years ago.

The only one I really felt uncomfortable around, or rather, _**sitting right across from**_, was Sally.

Everything I knew about her since forever had been shattered that day…

She…

She was my 'Auntie Sally'…

And she violated me…

And that wasn't the worst part, oh no. That was only the main thing. The _worst_ part was that I couldn't tell Mina, or even _anyone_ for that matter, about it, otherwise they'd lock Sally up.

And yes, I know what you're thinking; What could possibly justify rape of that caliber?

Well, I'm not gonna defend it.

'If someone tries to touch you in a place or a way that makes you feel uncomfortable, that's no good.'

Sonic taught me that one years ago when I was only four and a half.

It was one of his many 'Sonicisms' as I eventually dubbed them.

I even remember teaching them to my kids.

But anyways, Like I said, I'm not defending rape, it's just that whatever mental problems Sally is going through right now, I know that with some help she can most likely overcome them. However, I really don't think it'd be wise for anyone else to know about it just yet, because I know for a fact that Sally wouldn't want too many people getting on her case all at once.

It's just how I've known her all these years.

Brave, rugged, stubborn, strong-willed, and has a good grasp of right and wrong.

Especially the stubborn part.

It's no wonder she was the leader of the Freedom Fighters.

I always looked up to her especially during those days…

But now…  
Suddenly, the door to the compartment was thrown open, revealing a very angry Clash.

"**THOSE GODDAMNED MOTHER-FUCKERS**!" He bellowed, throwing the door closed behind him.

"The hell's your problem, Clash?" I asked, without even the slightest regard to my own safety.

"I'll tell you what my problem is!"

He then threw down a newspaper on the table in the middle of the compartment.

The front page article was the first thing that caught my eye.

_**Queen Sally Acorn: The Queen of Favoritism**_

_Earlier last week, an anonymous royal guardsman came forward with claims that the Acorn Royal family chose their royal staff based on personal preference. He claimed that the King and Queen, the Queen especially, chose their Commander of the Royal guard, and his replacement after his death, their Royal Science advisor, Their Royal Archive Manager, and even her own 'Bodyguard' based on personal friendships and relationships. _

_Needless to say, after this revelation went public, people living in the UAK have started to question whether or not keeping Sally as Queen was best for the kingdom. "I can think of a dozen different people who could be the commander of the royal guard than that war-hungry brute, Clash," Says Ashleigh Helen, a resident of Mobotropolis, "You know how many times he's nearly dampened relationships between The Acorn Kingdom and other Nations? I'm sure we all remember his personal 'Crackdown' during the Overlander Uprising a few years back. The crazy bastard killed nearly half of the rebels himself with a shotgun, a rifle, grenade launcher and a goddamn bowie knife! He even called one of them the racial slur for Overlanders. Practically yelled it, too. And let's not forget when he pulled a gun on someone at a Ruby Tuesdays just because he didn't order onions on his burger." _

_And that's not the only thing that people are saying is the reason Queen Sally's an unfit ruler. There's also claims that she and King Sonic have been handling conflcts, foreign and domestic, poorly. Some are even going as far as to say that King Sonic's death could have easily been prevented had He and Queen Sally had both used some 'Common Sense' and not run out of the castle without an escort, or go charging into the fray without a proper plan. "I say Sonic would still be alive if he wasn't such a cocky, egotisical freak," Says Gerard Millan, another Mobotropolis resident, "I mean, would it have been hard for him to stop and think before he did something stupid like that? I say he's either autistic or just a goddamned retard. You can qoute me on this when you write the article, by the way. I'm not scared of Queen Sally's crazy-assed attack dog, Commander Clash. I own a Glock, I'll have you know. While we're on the subject, that guy has more problems than a math test. I think he needs some therepy. Years and years of goddamned therepy."_

"Can you believe this shit?!" Clash yelled, "After all we did for them?! We save their stupid asses on a mutitude of occasions and _this_ is how they repay us? I _**DID NOT**_ watch my buddies die face-first in the mud just to be badmouthed by some _**GODDAMNED, SMART-MOUTHED INGRATE**_!"

He then punched a hole through the compartment window, shattering the glass instantly. I also could've sworn I saw his fist hit a train attendant on the way out the window.

"I think you need to calm down, Clash," Said Mina, trying to reason with him, "I mean, I've gotten bad reviews on songs in the past, but you never see me throwing a hissy fit about it."

Clash took a deep, angry breath, then sat on the bench next to me.

"I'm sorry." He apologized, "It's just that that article really pissed me off is all."

I'll actually be honest. I can easily understand why Clash was so enraged.

The didn't even wait a month after Sonic and my brother died, and already the gossip has started.

Disgusting.

All we ever did was protect them, and they go and tarnish their hero's reputation like that.

This was completely fucked-up.

And yet…

I can't help but feel that their right…

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_Nicole's POV_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"… And so, that's why I like mermobians so much," I continued on, completely unaware that I'd been talking David's ear off for the past hour and a half, "I mean, their tails are so bright and colorful, and they have beautiful singing voices, and I can honestly say that I wish I could be one. Wouldn't that be cool? I think it's cool. And so are-"

"Oh my god, shut up!" He finally snapped, "Shut your fucking mouth already! You've been talking non-stop for the past hour and a half! Goddammit, only my cousin Zeke would make you as annoying as a fucking cold blister!"

I felt my ears fall flat against my head.

I assume this was normal when a mammal-based mobian felt depressed or sad.

More importantly, though…

He said I was annoying…

Was I really annoying?

Before I could get the answer to that question, David bolted up from his seat, grabbed his backpack, then said, "Fuck this. I'm gonna go hang out with Argyle and Lara-Su." He then walked out the sliding door, leaving me alone.

I wondered if the emotions I was feeling right now was what it was like to have your feelings hurt, as I felt very sad, and felt tears start to roll down my cheeks.

This is honestly the first time I'd ever cried for any reason.

As I cried, I felt my nostrils get stuffed up, almost as if it was being filled with some kind of thick goo.

Just then, out of the corner of my tear-filled eye, I saw Cream enter.

I had heard that she almost couldn't come, but was able to finally secure a vacation week from her boss at the Chao nursery she worked at.

"What's wrong, Nicole?" She asked me, sitting down next to me.

I sniffed, trying to get some of the goo in my nose to go back inside me.

"David said I was annoying." I told her.

"Why would he say that?" She asked.

I sniffed again.

"… Because I was talking to him for almost an hour and he got upset because of it and told me to 'shut up.'"

"Well, Nicole, " Said Cream, "You did kind of talk his ear off for an hour. I'd be annoyed to if someone did that."

I sniffed again, looking up into Cream's eyes.

"… You would?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Nicole," She explained, "I think it's about time I told you about, 'hints.'"

She then went on to explain how to take a hint from someone when they didn't want to talk to you, or when they wanted you to leave them alone.

"I see now." I said, taking in the new information, "So there's times when it's appropriate to talk to someone, is there?"

Cream nodded.

"David didn't want to talk to you right then," She said, "That's why he got upset."

"… Will _you_ stay and talk to me, Cream?" I asked.

Cream simply smiled sweetly and replied, "I'd love to. Just so long as you let me get a word or two in edgewise, okay?"

I nodded, a smile overtaking my face.

I guess this is how it felt to be cheered back up, too.

I can honestly say I liked the feeling.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_Cream's POV_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_My eyes jerked open to see that I was laying in some kind of locked room somewhere. The walls were made of plaster that looked as though they had seen better days, the windows were boarded up, and there was only one door, and it looked like it was locked. Aside from that, there was a single bed in the back corner of the room, as well as a large chest sitting at the wall opposite it._

_The only thing I had remembered prior to this was walking home from school and ending up going through a bad neighborhood, then stopping at a burger joint for a quick bite. I faintly remember the taste of cherries. After that, I can't remember much more then that._

_I sat upright in an instant, breathing in shallow, short breaths, nearly hyperventilating in the process._

"_M-mommy?!" I yelled, "Where are you?!"_

_I then ran up to the door and started pounding on it._

"_Let me out of here!" I screamed, as all thirteen-year-old girls would in this scenario, "Please! Let me out!" _

_Suddenly, I felt my entire body get hot and sweaty._

_My eyelids drooped a little, and I felt my cheeks go completely red._

_My breathing started to slow a little, and found myself feeling more suggestive, less capable of my own thoughts._

_I then started to undress myself, starting first by me unbuttoning the blouse on my school uniform, being sure to take the bright red ascot off along with it, then slid the shirt off my sleeves. Next, kicked off my shoes, then gently pulled my red skirt down my ankles, then pulled off my long, white stockings. After that came the gloves, which I took off with my teeth of all things. Finally, I then slid my panties down my legs, and left them on the floor under my feet._

_I felt my legs carry me over to the chest, then knelt down in front of it, got out a few things, then walked over to the middle of the room._

_I slipped into the bright purple latex dress, which had a loose, ruffled skirt that reached down to my thighs. Next, I sat on the floor, then took a roll of bright pink duct tape, and started to wrap it around my ankles, binding them together. Then, I popped the ball gag into my mouth, being sure to fasten it in there tightly. Finally, I slipped a pair of binders around my hands, binding them neatly behind my back._

_Just as I had finished, the door finally opened, and in came a 41-year-old mobian ferret, bearing a large, manic grin on his face._

_I simply looked at him, somehow unable to ask him what was happening. He simply picked me up, then propped me up on the bed, bending me over forward so that my rear end face him. I felt him grab me firmly by my haunches, then felt his cock plow right up my..._

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

I jolted awake with loud, audible gasp, sitting upright on the fold-out bed on my side of the compartment I decided to share with Nicole today.

Funny.

I hadn't had a nightmare of that incident in monthes.

I clutched at the blankets, then started to weep, burying my face into the pillow I was using.

"Cream, what's wrong?"

I looked up and saw Nicole sitting up in her fold-out bed right across from mine.

I wanted so badly to tell her.

But I didn't want to shatter her child-like innocence.

Not yet.

"Nothing." I told her, "Just a bad dream. Go back to sleep."

She looked at me for a moment, but then I saw her roll back over and fall asleep again.

I, on the other hand, simply sat there on the bed for a while.

I was so stupid and naïve back then.

I can't believe I let myself get tricked by that creep.

I guess that's what I got for getting rides from strangers, even if they did claim to know my mom.

I had found out much later that that guy had drugged my soda with some kind of aphrodisiac mind-control drug, then sprinkled a knockout drug onto my burger when I wasn't looking.

And of course, as if being raped by a sexual predator wasn't enough, he also had to get me pregnant as well. I aborted it, obviously, as I was much too young to raise a kid, and my mom didn't feel like being a grandmother just yet. I didn't dare tell anyone about that part.

I guess this was also why I preferred women over men.

Especially Koko.

She told me she had gotten tickets to the upcoming Pack A Punch concert through a friend of hers, but I told her I couldn't come that day since I had a doctor's appointment that day. She completely understood, of course, as she knew I had my priorities.

That priority, of course, was getting my 'condition' checked out again.

As it turns out, since that incident, I developed a rare health condition that somehow only mobian rabbits can get known as 'Spastic Hormonal Disorder' or 'SHD' for short. Basically, because my body was exposed to a drug such as the one that pervert slipped me before my body was fully developed, my hormones had gotten all messed up, and now my breasts grew humongous on some occasions, I would lactate or ejaculate inexplicably, I would get aroused for little to no reason at all sometimes, or even get aroused quicker for that matter, and I would go through 'heat' every so often, which completely abnormal, as mobians only go through heat once in their lives, and that's when they turn sixteen, at which point, the normal thing to do would be to go home and jerk off. I first found that I had it one day during school (a year after the incident, mind you) when I was in math class and my breasts had started to inexplicably swell and lactate as they grew bigger. They literally swelled up so big that by the time I was rushed to a hospital they were the size of watermelons. I actually had to be laid down sideways on the gurney as my breasts would have crushed me to death if I had laid on my back. I also remember feeling hot and aroused, moaning loudly and erotically as I thrashed about on the gurney.

And so, since then, I had been put on a special drug that kept my disorder in line, keeping me from getting completely embarrassed in public or with my friends and their families.

The purpose of the doctor's appointment I had coming up was to determine whether or not I would be able to have children because of my SHD, even though I had been taking the drug like I was supposed to.

I'm really kind of hoping that I can, though.

Me and Koko had been talking about marrying and maybe having kids through artificial insimination, and I wanted to be the one to give birth. I guess it could be that I wanted to know what it was like to work on something like that and to stay with it. To share that special bond with a child that I myself brought into the world.

And maybe…

Just maybe…

Share with them the same memories I shared with my mother before me.

As well as with my father…

Before death took him, of course.

He shouldn't have gone driving in that snowstorm.

I then laid back down again, pulling the covers over me once more.

My eyelids grew heavy, and I was then overcome with a more peaceful slumber.

_To be continued…_


	4. Chapter 4: Confirmation

**Pheonix Rising**

**The ratings and disclaimers from the previous chapter will also apply to this chapter and all subsequent chapters.**

**Reader Descretions is Advised.**

**Chapter four: Confirmation**

_Power Star Motel_

_Gambler's Gulch_

_Western Desert Zone, United Acorn Kingdom borderlands_

_Six hours earlier…_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"This will be our temporary base of operations," Said Shadow upon entering the motel room he had booked for him, Nack and Bark, "At least until we're done in this town." Nack placed two black duffel backs on one of the beds in the room, then said, "Not too shabby for a cheap motel." He glanced over at the minibar in the far corner of the room. "I might be able to mix a drink or two." He added with a smile.

Bark simply sat down on an armchair in the room and pulled out a book he'd been reading for quite some time titled 'Of Mice and Men'

"We're not here on vacation, Nack," Shadow said cooly, "We're here on buisiness." "Yeah, yeah, I know," Nack responded, unzipping one of the duffel bags and pulling out a TEC-9 machine pistol and loading a clip into it, "You wanted to 'confirm' something. You mind telling me what you even want to find out?" "It's simply something that has been bothering me for a while recently," Shadow replied, "Something I needed to make sure was true before making any other moves." Nack then assembled a JNG-90 bolt-action sniper rifle, replacing the muzzle brake with a high-quality surpressor. "Does it affect me directly?" Nack asked. Shadow then glared at him as if he had been offended. "Let's make this clear." Shadow responded with a scowl, "You are currently in no place to question me, seeing as I am a G.U.N. operative, and you are a known fugitive, and how we are currently in the same room as one another. I could just as easily give my superiors a call and have you thrown in prison for the rest of your miserable life. So, for your sake, I would suggest that you adopt a more coorperative attitude. Do I make myself clear?"

Nack pushed the bolt of the high-powered rifle into place, chambering the first round.

"… Yeah, I suppose." He replied, not as shaken as Shadow would've expected him to be.

"Hmph. Good."

Shadow then re-adjusted the cloak he was wearing, then said, "Now then, I would suggest you not upack too much, as we're most likely not going to be staying her for very long. In fact, we're going to be meeting with someone who can take us to Mammoth." "Who might this would-be contact be, may I ask?" Nack queried.

Shadow simply looked at him, then said, "Grab an easily concealed weapon. We're going to meet her right now."

Nack looked at Shadow funny.

"Right now?!" He asked.

Shadow simply scowled and asked, "Did I stutter?"

Nack shook his head, not wanting to incur Shadow's wrath.

"Good then."

Nack handed the TEC-9 to Bark (Which, in this context meant dropping it in his lap, expecting him to pick it up), who then put down his book and hid the submachine pistol underneath his sweater that he was wearing right now. Nack then checked the magazine on his MP443 Grach hangun, then pulled on the slide shortly after, chambering the first round. After they were ready, the three renegades then left the motel room and took to their bikes, Shadow to his sooped-up Harley Davidson chopper, and Nack to his pride and joy, 'The Marvelous Queen', with Bark riding on the back of it. They sped off down the streets of Gambler's Gulch, then continued down to the area known as 'The Lane' where all the big-name casinos and resorts lay, such as 'Dino Island', 'Pharoah's Palace', 'River's Ransom' and even 'Queen's Guard'

And of course, _everyone_ knows where the strip clubs are…

However, they turned left down a side street after going down The Lane and went down a less pleasant-looking street. They stopped in front of a lesser-known, yet somewhat successful Casino/gentlemen's club known as 'Paradise Island.'

"This is the place." Said Shadow, pulling his bike to a stop in front of the entrance. "Y'know," Said Nack, recognizing the establishment, "I think I might've been to this place a few times in the past." "Good." Shadow replied, "Then I guess you're familiar with our contact, aren't you?" Nack shook his head. "I don't know any of the lovely shielas working in that joint," He replied, and then blushed as he smiled bashfully and added, "… But I might've gotten a BJ or two from some of them." Shadow then got off his bike, then placed a hand grenade bearing a remote-activated detonator on the seat of it, being sure to duct tape it in place. Nack and Bark got off their bike, then Nack pressed the button on his keys that activated the alarm on his bike, and also caused a small sentry turret to fold out of the seat of his prized hoverbike, which gave small beeps as it scanned the area for potential bike thieves. The three then entered the establishment, being sure to keep their weapons well-hidden.

The place was decorated with the theme of a stereotypical mystical island paradise; Fake palm trees in planters placed here and there, slot and poker machines bearing themes of mermaids and exotic fish and birds, large aquariums lining the walls of the lounge where mobian women dressed in mermaid tail suits swam inside, being sure to flaunt their bodies for the men, servers dressed in sexy mermaid and exotic bird costumes covered in either sequins or feathers and full-body makeup, and of course, a stripper area in the far left corner where scantily-dressed whores danced on long, brass poles for the men.

The group proceeded to the 'gentlemen's' area, taking a seat in front of one of the stages as 80's heavy metal music played on the intercom. "So Shadow," Nack whispered, "Who're we looking for?" Shadow simply pointed to the stripped that was currently dancing right in front of them.

'She' was a rather 'busty' mobian mongoose, possibly in her mid/late thirties, wearing a metallice teal tube top and matching panty, which was fastened to a pair of matching thigh-length stockings by a pair of garter belts, long, shoulder-length Vinyl opera gloves that were iridescent rainbow-colored and resembled light reflecting off of a puddle of oil. and wore bright, pastel blue lipstick and eyeshadow, as well as a long, mint-green wig with a single fake lily worn in it, and a piar of bright blue rhinestone high heels.

"Bloody hell…" said Nack, immediately liking what he saw, "She's gorgeous. You sure she's our contact?"

Shadow nodded.

Nack then grinned, and pulled out a fifty-ring bill and flashed it to the 'woman.'

"Oy, shiela!" He shouted, "Howabout givin' a shake for this aussie, eh?"

The mongoose smiled seductively, then walked over to him and shook her behind right in his face as he stuffed the ring in her panty. She then turned and spun on the pole, with almost gymnast-like performance.

"Oy, that's what I'm talkin' about…" Said Nack, his voice shaking with ecstacy.

"Hello there, Ash." Said Shadow, unaffected by the stripper's dancing, "How have you been since our last 'Meeting?'"

Nack glanced at Shadow apprehensively.

"'Ash?'" He asked, "Isn't that a-"

"What do you want this time, Shadow?" Ash asked, his voice still sounding boyish.

Nack's eyes went wide as he nearly had a heart attack.

"**WHAT THE FUCK**?" he shouted, "**SHE'S A GUY**?!"

Ash shrugged irritably, then said, "For your information, Nack, I happened to have a Gender Reappropriation Procedure six years ago after I came out of the closet and told everyone I wanted to be a woman. So, I took a trip to my local cosmetic clinic, and after a few short treatments, I was finally the woman I felt was trapped in my old boy's body." Shadow then leaned over to Nack's ear and whispered, "I have reason to believe this was really because that Mina girl left him for that mutant brat." Ash narrowed his brow and asked, "What was that?" Shadow then redirected his attention to Ash, then continued. "I wish to speak with your boss Mammoth. Is there a chance you can take us to him." "I could…" Ash replied, "… But it'll require a certain 'incentive' if you catch my drift." He looked in Nack's direction as he finished his statement. "The bloody hell you lookin' at?" He asked. Ash then knelt down, bringing his face to Nack's level. A seductive smile then went across his face, and he said, "You. I want to have intercourse with you."

Nack's eyes then went wide with shock.

"No way!" He exclaimed angrily, "I'm not having sex with a goddam-" Shadow then pointed a silenced M9 handgun at Nack's right temple, then whispered, "Like I said earlier; adopt a more cooperative attitude."

Nack glanced at Shadow, then at Ash, then gulped. Finally, he gave in, then said with a shrug, "Please don't tell anyone I know personally." Ash nodded. "I promise." Ash then led Nack to a private room in the corner of the stripper area, then locked the door behind them. Shadow and Bark simply stood and waited outside. Despite Nack's earlier protest, the two eventually started to hear Nack grunting and yelling provactive and dominant things from inside the room, as well as the sounds of Ash moaning in pleasure. Eventually, the moaning died down after one final, orgasmic scream. There was a twenty minute pause, and shortly after, Both Ash and Nack came out, exhausted and beet red in the cheeks.

"You sounded very into it in there," Shadow taunted with a sly smile, "Did you have fun?"

Nack scowled at Shadow, and retorted with, "Shut the fuck up, Shadow. Let's just get this bloody thing over with."

Ash then led them up a set of stairs leading to the upper foyer floor, then led them to a door where two mobian men, one a otter and the other a fox, wearing sand red suits armed with Calico M960 Submachine guns stood in front, guarding it.

"These two men wish to speak with Boss Mammoth," Said Ash, shooting the two men a seductive gaze, "It shouldn't be a problem, should it?"

Unaffected, the otter simply nodded, then stood aside and opened the double doors, allowing the group entry.

"That was much easier than I thought it would be." Nack muttered.

They then proceeded down a long hallway, lined with various paintings and portraits that Mammoth managed to keep after most of his stuff in his old mansion was repoed. Ash then opened a door at the end of the hallway, showing the group into a large, elaborately decorated room.

It was a large room, bearing marble floors with elegent-looking designs engraved onto it, alabaster walls covered by a beautiful mural depicting various parts of the Mobian Auros, such as the Great Rebirth, the Great War, and even the Reckoning. There was even a part of it depicting the four Gods of the Auroran faith: Aurora, Kurros, Dark Gaia and Light Gaia (Whom Shadow immediately recognized as 'Chip' whom he only met once during the Dark Gaia incident years ago.). There was also a small indoor pond built into the floor in the very middle of the room, with koi and other small fish swimming around in it. And sitting on a large, marble 'throne' was Mammoth Mogul himself, his hair and fur slightly dull in color.

"Mammoth," Ash began, "These gentlemen-"

He was quickly interrupted by Magnum walking right up to him and pointing a Taurus 608 Magnum revolver at his left temple.

"The boss told you explicitely never to let Shadow in here, you transgender whore." He snarled, his accent soundling like that of a 1920's Brooklyn gangster, "What part of that do you not understand?" "That's enough, Magnum," Said Mammoth, waving a hand dissmissively, "Let me handle this." Magnum growled, then stepped aside, keeping his revolver ready just in case. Mammoth then stood up from his throne, then walked right up to Ash, towering over 'her' and covering 'her' in his shadow. He then smacked her right across her face with the back of his hand, sending her flying across the floor and landing right on her stomach.

Nack went cold with fear as he watched this.

Bark's eyes went wide with shock.

Shadow simply stood there, unaffected.

Ash coughed and sputtered as she attempted to pick herself back up, but found this to be daunting of a task as her vision was incredibly blurry, and was rather dizzy from the room feeling like it was spinning around her like a carneval ride. Her blurry vision was then dyed crimson red as blood leaked from a large wound on her forehead, and then her right eye quickly swelled itself completely shut, turning practically the entire left side of her face a blackish blue color as blood poured into her large bruise. Blood also leaked from her busted lip, smearing her lipstick in a cross-colored mess down her chin, and blood also leaked from her nose like a waterfall from it being broken. She managed to pull herself to her feet for a moment, but quickly fell back to her knees as she vomited on the floor.

Magnum then walked over to her and kicked her in her right side, causing her to fall to her left side.

"You fucking slut!" He bellowed, "You're cleaning that up, by the way!"

"Magnum!" Mammoth bellowed, "Enough. Leave Ms. Mongoose to her penalization."

Magnum once again stepped aside, allowing Ash to continued to suffer from her severe concussion and bleed all over herself and on the floor below her.

_Bloody hell…_ Nack thought, _He knocked Ash so hard…_

"Oy!" He finally bellowed at Mammoth, "I think that sheila needs to go to the hospital!"

Shadow shot Nack a glare.

"Nack…" He growled irritably.

"No, I'm bloody serious here!" Nack continued, "Look here, Mammoth, ya 9,000 year old dick-handler! As bad as a criminal I used to be, even I know that hitting a woman is never a classy thing to do! I have standards I'll have you know, an-"

Shadow then jumped right in front of Nack, then clamped his hand around his muzzle, and then angrily whispered, "Shut your goddamn mouth right now or I'll shut it for you, clear?" Nack glanced over at Ash, who was still on the floor, reeling from her head truama. He then nodded, slightly defeated. Shadow let go of his muzzle, then began to speak.

"I apologize for my companion's rudeness." He began, "He tends to be that way most of the time. Now then, as for why I'm here, I'll make it simple…"

He looked Mammoth right in the eye, then asked, "Can you spare a Chaos emerald? I know you've had one in your possession for quite some time, and I was wondering if you wished to part with it."

Mammoth looked at Shadow as if he had just sang all of the songs in Disney's Aladdin cartoon while wearing a pink dress and a bow.

He then burst into laughter, as if Shadow had just told a funny joke.

"And why, praytell," Mammoth asked, "Would you expect me to part with my precious emerald?"

Shadow simply looked at him, his expression stoic and emotionless at first, but then, a slight smile spread upon his face, and he replied, "I didn't. I simply needed to know whether you still had it or not. But, I suppose for closure's sake, might I have a look at it?"

Mammoth chuckled again, then walked up to Shadow and pointed a gold-plated, diamond-studded Desert Eagle handgun at Shadow's forehead.

"Again, I ask…" He taunted once more, "Why would you expect me to jus-"

Shadow then knocked his gun out of his hand, then pulled out a military combat knife and stabbed it right through Mammoth's right arm. Mammoth howled in pain loudly, causing Magnum to immediately spring into action, only to be stopped by Shadow using Chaos Control on him, freezing him in place in a dark green energy field.

Shadow then pulled the knife back out, watching Mammoth bleed as he clutched his wound.

He waited a moment, as if expecting something.

He then grabbed Mammoth by his cheeks, then said, "Wounds hurt a lot more when you're no longer immortal, don't they?"

Mammoth grunted as he clenched his teeth from the pain.

Shadow then let go of him and began circling him like a shark as he continued.

"But, of course," He went on, "I suppose what changed in the other timeline must've also had some kind of effect on this one as well. I'll admit, I've got to hand it to that twitchy hedgehog, Sonic, for inadvertantly creating that timeline when he and his friends confronted Eggman to get his precious Sally back from him, although, I can't help but feel that that wasn't entirely his doing alone. Regardless, though, even though he hasn't gained any memories from this echo of an alternate timeline…"

He grabbed Mammoth by his collar then said, "… _I_ have…"

He then let go and continued.

"I've seen this other Mobius, this mere copy of what it once was twenty-five years ago, this alternate reality where Sonic and his bedamnable friends fought Eggman for a lot longer than they did in this timeline. I also recall how you taught Silver everything he knew about everything in that timeline, and… And… How I became more powerful than anyone on the planet…

"Of course, no power like that is without consquence, as Sonic and his friends ultimately defeated me in a rather humiliating defeat. However, despite me learning of this, I realized that I… Require no such power. What I require is simply closure. Closure on things that have been troubling me lately.

"Being a perfect, ageless being such as myself, although not immortal, I've lived for quite some time, and seen many things in my years. And one thing that will never quite forget seeing in my long, weary life… Was the one whom I looked to as almost an older sister, being murdered right in front of me, while I was powerless to stop her killer.

"However, I recently learned a few things that shed some new light on the circumstances that led to that fateful day. For one thing, Dr. Gerald Kintobor did create the plague that nearly wiped out all of mankind, but it wasn't in the way I remember hearing it be. Apparently, he and his former partner at the time, Dr. Marlton Johnson, had discovered a new element that came from a meteor that had crashed somewhere in France during the middle ages. It was called 'Element 115' and after narrowly avoiding a certain 'incident' they then went on to research it further.

"Of course, Gerald wished to develop it into a biological weapon, While Marlton urged him to try and utilize it for more peaceful purposes, such as an alternate power source or other silly things like that. After he refused, Dr. Kintobor went on to developing the weapon which he dubbed 'MOB-115' unfortunatly, he never got the government contract he wanted for it, as the American military deemed it as 'Overkill' he then went on to coming up with an elaborate plot to unleash it upon Washington DC during a Cherry Blossom festival. However, as it was being transported through the city of Chicago, Illinois, Marlton sabotaged his plans by hijacking the truck, and was about to drive it into the river when a drunk driver crashed into the side of it, causing it to jacknife and crash upon the highway, blanketing the entire city in the toxic mist.

"This caused a terrible plague to spread all across the planet, killing thousands of humans in it's wake. However, while Gerald and the followers he managed to gather were on the newly-built ARK space station, something happened…

"That's were we came from…"

Shadow spread his arms out wide dramatically, continuing his long explanation.

"They called them 'Mobians' named after the bio weapon that made the once demure animals of the planet once called Earth evolved into an entire race! And, Shortly after this began, I was created, nay… Was born…

"I am truly Gerald Kintobor's son, with Maria as my sister. He even treated me like I was his son, as Maria did like I was her brother. Me and her… We laughed… We played… We loved… I meant everything to her. I meant the entire world to her. She would go right into hell and back for me, just to keep me safe. She loved me more than she did anything she'd ever loved… Unfortunately, that ended up being her downfall…

"Her fiance, a despicable human by the name of Francis, betrayed and murdered her. The whole time, he had been enlisted by G.U.N. to infiltrate the ARK under the guise of a mechanic and gain them entry so that they could take out Dr. Kintobor, as well as his fanatical followers. But, even in her death, she taught me one thing… Not all humans are bad. Just some. However, I've also learned that it only takes one bad apple to spoil an entire harvest.

"But now, Millenia later, I have come to realize that there is a certain man who wishes to change all of this world, this 'Mobius.' He seeks a power beyond any mortal understanding. A power capable of bringing entire civilizations to their knees. A power… That could destroy the world…" he turned his gaze at the mural on the wall depicting the events of The Book of Reckoning in the Auros.

It showed an entire city being engulfed in flames as corpses walked and devoured the living, and a winged mobian-like creature wielding a flaming sword, stood over all of it, holding his sword out above him.

"… He wishes to bring about the end of days…"

Shadow then turned back to Mammoth.

"So, returning back to the matter at hand," Shadow continued, "It is my understanding that you have been doing buisiness with this man and his organization, is that correct?"

Mammoth nodded, still in pain from his wound.

"I thought so." Said Shadow, "After all, who _could_ resist the temptation of immortality… Which, you seemed to have lost somehow recently. Why would that be, might I ask?"

"None of your buisiness, hedgehog!" Mammoth snarled.

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway." Shadow retorted, "I've gained the knowledge I needed to gain anyway."

He then walked over to Ash and picked her up, carrying her in his arms.

"I suppose it was nice talking with you anyway, Mammoth, even if I had to… 'rough you up' a little."

He then carried Ash as he walked out the door, who was eventually followed by Nack and Bark, who followed him as he rode to a hospital and deposited Ash at the Emergancy Care center, then went back to their hotel room.

Upon entry, Shadow then said, "Pack up. We're leaving."

"No fucking shit we're leaving!" Nack exclaimed, quickly disassembling his sniper rifle and placing it in the bag along with the submachine gun he gave Bark earlier, "Do you even realize who you just stabbed, mate? Mammoth _fucking_ Mogul, the world's currently most notorious, deadliest international crime lord! And what was all that earlier, too? That whole 'end of days' bullshit you were goin' on about?"

"Never mind that, Nack." Shadow answered, "Your assistance is no longer needed. Therefore…" Shadow then placed the Envelope he showed Nack before in his hands, "… Your cooperation has now beared it's reward. I'll let them know you'll be presenting them with it."

"Hold on!" Nack then grabbed Shadow by his shoulder, "You told me to cooperate, and I did. Now I think I deserve to know why."

Shadow sighed irritably.

"Nackington McTavish Weasel…" He said.

He then Chaos Controled them back to Nack's hideout, along with his signiture hoverbike, which he teleported into it's garage.

"… I relieve you."

Shadow then chaos controlled out of there, Leaving Nack with a lot of unanswered questions.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

A little bit the next day, Shadow walked into a diner in the small town of Blue Lake, which lay a few miles northwest of Gambler's Gulch and was within a three and a half hour driving distance of, and sat down at the counter. He only ordered a simple glass of orange juice, and simply sat there, drinking it in sips.

He then saw a familiar face walk in, accompanied by whom he assumed were his 'new friends'

"Shadow?" asked Silver, "What're you doing here?"

_To be continued…_


	5. Chapter 5: Double-Crossed

_Author's note: I'm really sorry this took so long to write, it's just that I really fucked up in terms of updating like I usually do, and ended up getting caught up in all sorts of things. So yeah, again, real sorry. Enjoy the chapter._

**Pheonix Rising**

**The ratings and disclaimers from the previous chapters also apply to this chapter and all subsequent chapters.**

**Reader descretion is advised.**

**Chapter Five: Double-Crossed**

_Blue Lake Junction_

_Blue Lake county, Western United Acorn Kingdom_

_Sometime later the next day…_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_Lara-Su's POV_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

So, during the past few hours I spent hanging out with Claudius, not only have I learned about the wonderful practice of 'Miniature Model Building,' But also learned about how the soundtrack to Pacific Rim could easily go with the anime Attack on Titan if you played it in the background, My Little Chao: Magic is Friendly and it's magnificent fanbase, how truly daunting writing an ongoing fanfiction series can really be (1), How to exercise proper 'Player etiqutte' while playing a game of Team Deathmatch on Call of Duty: Mobian Ops 2, the perfect method to breeding/catching shiny pokemon on Pokemon X/Y, and just how truly 'Awesome' _The Lego Movie _really was, while the _'Chaos in Space'_ movie ended up being nothing more than a decade-long buildup to disappointment.

Oh, and there's the whole 'Time Traveler' aspect of his life. Don't know how I could've forgotten about that.

Also, I'm beginning to get the feeling that Argyle thinks I'm about to cheat on him, which is completely ridiculous, as I'm not that kind of girl.

But, here I am, in broad daylight, walking through this sleepy little town with him after attending the memorial to Mrs. De'Coolette's mother. I'll admit, while it's pretty sad that her mother died at age 36 of cancer, she was pretty good looking in her day. I mean, the picture they showed of her at the memorial really excentuated her bust and hips, and made her look a lot younger than she actually was.

Well, despite that, we decided to just sort go to this diner that was in the town, which is where me, Claudius, and Nicole (David and Argyle dumped her with us, claiming that she was 'our problem' now), and I have to say, for a girl who was grown in a lab, she can really eat. She ate an entire plate of hot wings, plus a huge plate of pancakes.

So now, here we are, hanging out at this small park located on a hill near the abandoned Drive-in theater somewhere on the edge of town, just hanging out, watching the stars come out as the sun sets.

"Y'know," Said Claudius, "Somewhere out there… Out in the farthest reaches of the galaxy… There's an entire alien race that still owes me a favor…"

See what I've had to deal with?

"So, this 'Doctor' guy you seem to be friends with," Nicole asked him, "When do you think you'll see him again."

Claudius shrugged.

"I have no idea." He answered, "Probably never. From what he told me a year ago when I had my first few adventures with him, apparently I wasn't his first companion. He's many others before he had me. He even mentioned something about some kind of 'Magical Talking Pony' being a companion once (2)."

I shrugged irritably, twirling the long, thin braid in front of my hair around my fingers, trying my best to drown out the stupid conversation.

I know what you're thinking; Why would I still be acting like this when hearing about Claudius' travels through time and space despite hearing everything that Charlie and Silver told me that day in the diner last month?

Well, truth is, although they claim it's true, and although I do see some plausability in it after that nightmare I had the other night, I'm just a person of facts, I guess. As far as I know, Time travel doesn't exist, at least, not yet. Granted, I live on a small, blue planet called Mobius, where we've pretty much seen everything; robot armies, magic and sorcery, alien invasions, immortal bad guys with immense wealth, ancient eldrich beings unleashing their wrath upon the populace, people from alternate dimensions, and even goddamn Were-hedgehogs, but there is nothing that can convince me that time travel is, or ever will be, scientifically possible.

"Hey Lara!"

I turned my attention back to Claudius, who was looking at me expectantly.

"What?" I asked.

"So, I know this may sound like a bad idea," He began, "But would you and Nicole like to go with me and check out the part of the drive-in where that couple was murdered by the 'Shed Mauler' years ago?"

_May _sound like a bad idea?

That's not just a bad idea, it sounds a lot like a 'Vicky' idea.

But, unfortunately, Nicole seemed like she wanted to go too, and I just knew for a fact that part of this would involve her talking our ears off at some point or other.

So, with that…

"… Sure. Why not?" I answered.

And with that, we went down the hill and climbed the chain link fence into the abandoned drive-in theater.

I knew for a fact that we weren't supposed to be here. I knew we were trespassing and therefore breaking the law. And yet, here we were.

Claudius led us over to a certain spot over near the restrooms where there was a large brown spot on the ground where I'm assuming there was once blood.

"This is it." He said, intrigued, "This is were Nellie Harper and Mika Ellison were both murdered by the Shed Mauler. The official police report made by the Blue Lake County Sheriff's department stated that Mika was killed here, but Nellie was wounded, then taken to the killer's shed and brutally totured until she finally died."

"… That's… Cool, I guess…" I said, trying to be nice.

Just then, I heard the sound of what sounded like a bunch of cars coming, followed by the faint glow of headlights in the distance.

"Uh oh…" I said alound.

"Quick, hide!" Yelled Claudius, dragging me and Nicole behind the restroom building.

There we simply sat and stayed quiet, listening to the conversation that would soon unfold…

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

A group of vehicles pulled into the empty, decrepit drive-in lot. Two were a pair of large, flecktarn camoflaged armoured trucks with the word 'Black Adder' painted on the side of it in military stencil font. The third was a black SUV.

A bunch of Overlander men in camoflage and anti-ballistic armor came out of the truck, all armed with various modern assault weapons, bearing the emblem of their mercenary group on their armor. And out of the SUV came a human male with light skin, short blondish-brown hair that was combed to the sides, and green eyes, wearing a black suit, as well as Rouge, who was wearing a woodland camoflage print full-full-body skintight spandex suit coupled with a pair of matching boots, a utility belt holding various tech and equipment, as well as a holster for her HKP2000 handgun which was equipped with a laser sight and silencer, and a tactical combat knife held in a sheath on her right upper arm. She was armed with a Honeybadger silenced assault rifle equipped with a hybrid thermal sight, a forgrip, and a laser sight.

"So, Agent Madson," Said Rouge, "Why are we enlisting the help of Black Adder for my backup?"

Madson smiled slightly, then answered.

"Because, Rouge," He answered, "The sensitivity of this mission requires it. As you've been told in the briefing, Rapheal is still very much recognized as nothing more than one of the most wealthiest men on the planet, easily rivaling the 'illustriously reputated' Zeke Thorndyke. If anyone found out that G.U.N. was responsible for his assassination, there would be an international upset. Surely you understand our perdicament, right?"

Rouge shrugged.

"But Black Adder?" She asked sarcastically, "Really? You couldn't have picked a more corrupt bunch of jacked-up Overlanders with itchy trigger fingers and money to burn?"

"Watch your mouth, lady," Said a man whom was most likely the leader of the Black Adder unit, his deep cockney british accent flaring, "We might just reconsider the agreement, otherwise."

"Don't mind her, Captain Graves," Said Madson, dismissing Rouge's comment, "She's just that way all the time."

Graves scoffed. "Like I give a shit about you G.U.N. spooks anyway." He said.

"Right," Said Madson, turning to Rouge, "So, anyways, your mission is simple. Get in there, take out Richtofen, get out. Simple as that."

"You sure?" Rouge asked.

Madson nodded.

"Would I mislead you?" He asked in response.

Rouge remained silent, sliding the open-faced hood of her catsuit over her head, followed by the night vision goggles she brought with her.

"Now then," Madson continued, "Your target is about a quarter of a mile that way…" He pointed off towards a large, grassy field across the street from the drive in, "So, that being said, the tall grass should give you really good cover. You can manage to remain hidden, right?"

"I wasn't one of the world's most skilled cat burgalars for nothing." Rouge replied.

"Right then," Said Madson, "Off you go, agent."

Rouge nodded, then ran off towards the field, looking both ways before crossing the street.

Madson watched her go, then once she was completely out of sight and earshot, he then turned to Graves and said, "Alright, now comes your part in this. You remember your orders, right?"

Graves nodded, then motioned to one of his men, who was armed with a Lynx 50. Caliber BMG sniper rifle with an equipped LAB Tracker scope and a silencer, ran a few meters to the left of where Rouge ran, accompanied by another merc armed with a Magpul PDW-57 equipped with a Millimeter scanner sight and a silencer.

"Like you said…" He replied, smirking, "She doesn't live to see the light of tomorrows sun."

"Perfect." Said Madson, smirking as well.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_Lara-Su's POV_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

I let out a silent gasp as I listened to that part of the conversation.

Those guys were gonna kill Rouge!

But, then again, realistically, what could I really do about it?

"Lara," Claudius whispered, "I think it is time that we made ourselves scarce from this place, wouldn't you agree?"

I looked to him, then nodded.

"I suppose you're right," I replied, "There's really nothi-"

I suddenly realized then that we were missing someone.

"Wait, where's Nicole?" I asked.

I then answered my own question when I realized her inepticity in certain social situations.

"… Oh no…" I whispered.

I then ran after her before she could get herself shot by those mercenaries.

Unfortunately, we both got spotted.

We both got grabbed by our hair by a pair of well-armed mercenaries.

"Well, well, well…" Said Madson, who then pulled out a nine millimeter handgun, "It looks like we got ourselves some 'witnesses' Tell me, kids, who sent you two?"

"Like I'd tell you slimeballs!" Nicole barked at him, spitting in his direction.

"This one sounds like she's seen too many movies," Said the one restraining Nicole, "Care if I iced her?"

Madson simply said, "Oh, do as you will. These kids are probably too stupid for society, anyway."

"Hey, boss!" Said another guard, "I found another one!"

I then glanced back over at the restroom building to see Claudius being escorted by another set of guards.

"Great," Said Madson, "They're multiplying."

"You won't get away with this," I shouted despite my current situation, "My dad happens to be a Freedom fighter! He'll come looking for me!"

"Oh, I welcome that possiblity." Madson happily replied, screwing a silencer onto the barrel of his pistol, pulling on the slide afterwards, "Then I can ice him, too. I can kill anyone I want, really. Comes with the job. Now then…"

He then pressed the silenced barrel of his handgun to my forehead.

"Any last words?"

I gulped.

This guy was going to kill me. And there was literally _nothing_ I could do to stop him.

Nothing could save me and my friends at this point.

However, just then, there was the sound of screeching tires as a few more vehicles pulled into the parking lot.

One of them was a large armoured truck, looking like the ones that transport money between banks. This one plowed right into the black SUV, sending it flying a few feet away. Another was a black Limosine, bearing a hood ornament shaped like a wooly mammoth's head. And the third was a navy blue SUV, it's windows tinted black.

"What the hell?" Said Madson, taking his pistol away from my forehead and turning to face the possible assailents.

Just then, before anyone could really react, the top of the blue SUV popped open, revealing a mobian lynx man with a crazed, wild-eyed expression on his face, manning a minigun turret.

"What the fu-"

That was all one of the other mercenaries could get out before being mowed down by the minigun, the rest, as well as me, Nicole and Claudius, taking cover.

As soon as it started, the seemingly endless barrage of bullets ended, and when we all got back out, most of the mercenaries were already dead.

"Hey!" Madson yelled, pointing his gun at the limo, "G.U.N.! Step out of the vehicle!"

Almost as if on cue, out of the back door of the limosine came a mobian hare, bearing a few notches cut out of his ears, holding some kind of huge revolver in his hand.

"Drop the weapon, pal!" Yelled Madson, "I'll-"

The hare then shot Madson in the face, splattering his brains all over the ground behind him.

Nicole screamed in fear.

"Grab the girl and her friend." Said the hare, sounding like someone out of a mobster movie, just as a bunch of other mobians came out of the armoured truck, "kill the Lizaldian."

As if on cue, another mobian wielding a shotgun went and blasted Claudius in the stomach with a spray of buckshot from the shotgun.

"No!" I screamed as he fell to the ground, "You monsters! I'll kill you! I'll kill all fo-Mmmmhhh!"

I was soon silenced by a hand clamping a rag over my mouth and nose.

The scent of chloriform clouded my nose, weakening my motor skills. I struggled to stay conscious, but soon found myself fighting a losing battle.

I then collapsed, my vision fading to black before I hit the ground.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_Rouge's POV_

_A few minutes earlier…_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Something seemed really seedy about this op.

I could already tell.

Here I was, crouched in the middle of a grassy field, waiting for my target to appear.

However, it was also beyond this field where I sat where there was this huge excavation site of some kind, all being operated by whom I'm assuming was the Pheonix Empire.

I pulled on the loading handle of my rifle, then switched on my NVGs and waited.

I must've waited for almost twenty minutes until I finally saw him.

Rapheal Raul Richtofen.

Something about this guy seemed awfully familiar.

It had to be the eyes.

Suddenly, I heard what sounded like faint gunfire coming from where Madson and those Black Adder mercenaries were.

That was a bad sign right there.

Regardless, though, I had a mission to complete.

I then looked through the hybrid thermal sight attached to my gun, lining up the crosshair with Richtofen's head, my finger slowly closing in on the trigger.

Suddenly, I was grabbed from behind by someone. This guy was a mobian meerkat man, but I couldn't identify him as he was wearing a ski mask.

I tried to fight back, but he seemed to strong for me.

"Stand still, ya fuckin' broad!" He barked at me, his voice sounding like an italian gangster from New Jersey.

I then kicked him in the nose, fracturing it. He clutched his nose as it bled, but before I could grab my pistol, I was grabbed by another, this one clamping a rag soaked in chloriphorm over my mouth and nose.

I tried screaming for help, but my screams were muffled by the rag. I then suddenly started losing consciousness, falling victim to the anesthetic chemicals that I was being forced to inhale.

I finally blacked out, falling to the ground in a seemingly slow manner.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_Lara-Su's POV_

_Much later…_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Slowly, I began to regain consciousness, the world seeming like it was spinning as my eyes reopened.

I also found that I couldn't move, and seemed to be bound together by something supertight and form-fitting.

I opened my eyes fully and found that I was wrapped from the mouth down in what appeared to be shipping wrap.

Despite it being futile, I tried wiggling and squirming, but given the realism of the situation, it was of no use.

I glanced to my right and saw Nicole bound the same way, as well as Rouge.

And then, the door to what appeared to be the back of a truck that I was in opened, and a few men in red suits picked me and the others up, carrying us into the back door of some kind of building, and taking us into this huge, palace-looking room, setting us on our feet in front of some kind of mobian Mammoth.

"Blindfold the kids," He ordered, "I'm about to make a phonecall to the emperor."

Almost as soon as he finished saying that, a black leather BDSM blindfold was fastened over my eyes, making this experience all that much more frightening.

I then heard the sound of a video phonecall being made.

"Mammoth Mogul…" Said the voice on the other line, whom I'm assuming was referring to the mobian Mammoth who was my captor, "This had better be worth my time."

"Ah yes, Mr. 'All-powerful Pheonix emporer," Mammoth replied, "I managed to capture the girl like you said."

"Yes, so you have…" Said a voice on the other line,

That voice…

I'd heard it once before…

But where?

"So, you wish for me to deal with her, correct?" Mammoth asked.

"Yes." The other voice responded, "Make sure she never fufills the prophecy, and see to it that the other two are… Thoroughly dealt with."

"Understood, my lord." I heard him say. I then heard him hang up.

I then felt the blindfold be taken off of my eyes.

"You," Mammoth said to me, standing over me like a shadow, "You're the girl I heard about in the prophecy, aren't you? An echdina born on the eve of the lunar celebration, am I right?"

It was true. I was born the day before the Echidna lunar holiday Lusa, which is where we celebrate the anniversary of the Day of Fire (Which in the human calender is the day the Mobian race was created in the midst of the near-extinction of the human race.), and honor the Echidna god of creation, Fausfirus, the fire-bringer, who in the echidna faith, is said to be this huge fox person who is said to have created all of Mobius. Of course, My father never really believed in much of that, but I honestly think he secretly a bit superstitious.

I nodded, not wanting to die an early death.

"Well then…" said Mammoth, narrowing his gaze at me, "I suppose I'll have to dispose of you…"

He then motioned to some of his men, who then unwrapped me and restrained me shortly after.

"You monster!" I shouted, "You won't get away with this!"

"Oh, but I will." He replied cooly, "I have before, and I always shall. Take her to be fed to my pet anaconda. I think it's about her suppertime."

Anaconda?

Oh no…

"No… Nononononono!" I screamed as I was dragged away down a long, dark hall, "Please, don't do this to me!"

I was then taken into a large room, housing a large, reinforced glass tank, in which lay a massive anaconda that looked to be as long as a bus, and could probably swallow me whole.

One of them then yanked my gloves off my hands and instead forced a set of rubber bondage mitts designed specifically for echidnas, as it cushioned over my knuckle spikes, disallowing me the use of them to poke through the mitts, making my hands seem like large, black rubber-covered balls.

They then opened a glass door on the front of the in-wall tank and threw me in, locking it shut behind me. After that, they left, locking the door to the room outside the tank behind them.

And so now, I was alone with this huge, scaly beast. One that I happen to have a huge phobia of.

I was so scared that I was practically frozen in fear.

I could only helplessly watch as it wrapped it's huge, massive coils around me, beginning my long, agonizing death by constriction.

Once it had me, I was completely immobilized. I knew how it went. I read about these things in biology once. The more breaths I tried to draw in, the more tried to struggle, the tighter the thing would squeeze me. I could already feel the effects of asphyxiation. I watched as my glasses fell to the terarrium floor below me when I got squeezed hard at one point. I even got squeezed so hard that I felt almost as though my eyes were bugging out. As I felt my eyes begin to roll into the back of my head, I could faintly see the outlines of the snake's eyes gazing at me, hungrily, looking as though it was about ready to chow down and swallow me.

Finally, my vision faded to black as every bit of oxygen inevitably escaped my body, feeling myself slide into the snake's mouth, head-first…

_To be continued…_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_(1) It's true. Just look how long it took to release this chapter. _

_(2) For those of you who don't know, this is a Doctor Whooves and Assistant reference. Check it out on youtube if you haven't already. It's the most coolest pony-related radio play out there!_


End file.
